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Keith Olbermann: An Infantile, Dysfunctional, Empty Vessel
John Gibson has a few words regarding the firing of Keith Olbermann. Mr Gibson worked with Oralmann for years and knows him as few others do. We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
It's Happened Again! Olbermann Fired by Current TV!
And he's being replaced by a corrupt ex-politician. Would it be nasty to say that's a step up for Current? Details here.
From Keach Hagey:
Source familiar says Olbermann was fired for failing to show up to work ,"sabotaging the network" and attacking Current execs.
Here is Oralmann's response:
I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV.
Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract.
It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently. To understand Mr. Hyatt's "values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty," I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee's name was Clarence B. Cain. http://nyti.ms/HueZsa
In due course, the truth of the ethics of Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt will come out. For now, it is important only to again acknowledge that joining them was a sincere and well-intentioned gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one. That lack of judgment is mine and mine alone, and I apologize again for it.
Do you remember back when Tony Snow passed away? The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, who had called Snow every name in the book starting with 'baldfaced liar' and moving up, suddenly claimed he and Snow were good friends:
OLBERMANN: While we could not have disagreed more on policy, we were in frequent contact, even during his days as Press Secretary.
But in fact this was another one of those sudden revelations that always seemed to happen when someone prominent died. Keith would announce, out of the clear blue, what great pals they were, and how the deceased was a regular viewer of Countdown, yada yada yada. But in the case of Tony Snow, his friends didn't take Oralmann's self-puffery lying down:
But a true friend of Snow's says Olbermann had "no relationship with Tony, at all." In fact, Olbermann named Snow his "Worst Person in the World" on Jan. 9, 2007, accusing him of lying about President Bush's 2003 "mission accomplished" speech.
Bathtub Boy pulled this routine over and over. When Tim Russert passed away, Olby laid it on especially thick, making Russert his great supporter at NBC when in fact Oralmann's antics were repellent to a journalist like Tim Russert.
Tonight Monkeymann will revisit this peculiarly narcissistic tendency of his as he 'pays tribute' to his 'good friend' boxing writer Bert Sugar. And if you want a preview of who his eulogy will really be about, just check Twittermann's feed:
He was my friend for 38 years.
He launched my paid career.
Bert never doubted my ability.
He never stopped supporting my efforts.
He never stopped being proud of me.
He never stopped being my friend.
If Olby ever breaks the "m" or "I" keys on his keyboard, he'll be rendered speechless.
Here, straight from the twitter account of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, are the topics scheduled for the first Countdown of March:
Attack on Romney over the Blunt amendment
Attack on Michigan GOP
Attack on Clinton for endorsing the pipeline
Attack on News Corp
Attack on Sheriff Arpaio
Attack on Rush Limbaugh for calling someone who needs $3000 worth of birth control pills a 'slut'
That last is rather curious, given Keith Olbermann's own record of misogyny. But say, isn't there something else missing? Some story that might have made news today? Can you figure out what that would be? And will it became the latest Dog That Did Not Bark on OlbyPlanet?
After a string of absences, vacations, and days off that would make President Obama green with envy, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is set to return to his candlelit podium tonight and resume his proper role as King of Kountdown. And you can expect every element to be back in place: attacks on Republicans, a fawning interviewing with Markos "Screw 'Em" Moulitsas, more smears of Arizona as he truckles to the Big Unions, and of course insults galore, aimed at everyone from members of Congress to Rush Limbaugh. It's the beginning of another week--The Hour of Spin times five. Abandon all hope ye who dare to watch.
There's so much news breaking on the Oralmann front that we'll just give you the latest high spots and let you take it from there. Suffice it to say that the infamous, deplorable one is once again alienating everyone he works with and for, and in record time:
The Wrap: Rift deepens between Olby and Current: 'Everyone is replaceable'
We all know Olbermann doesn't burn bridges at every place he works; he napalms them. Could Current TV be the latest venue for an Olbyplosion? The NY Times seems to think so, based on the fact that the infamous, deplorable one has been noticeably absent from recent special reports and is not scheduled to participate in the first big news night of 2012, the Iowa caucuses:
These absences suggest that there may be new tension between Mr. Olbermann and the managers at Current, who are trying to create a progressive-oriented cable news channel.
In the television industry, Mr. Olbermann is well known for fights with his bosses; stories abound about his refusal to speak to managers and executives. At Current, this behavior has continued, according to four people with knowledge of the situation, one of whom described Mr. Olbermann as "disgruntled."...
On Dec. 22, Mr. Olbermann's last live program of the year, he did not acknowledge his expected absences.
"We'll be bringing you Best of 'Countdown' each night from tomorrow through Monday, Jan. 2, and then back -- live, live, live -- on Tuesday, Jan. 3," he told viewers. "Congratulations on getting through another year of this crap. Good night and good luck."
In fact, Current is planning to pre-empt "Countdown" on Jan. 2 for a two-hour caucus preview hosted by Mr. Uygur, according to its schedule.
Uh oh. What's notable about the above is that it is written by Brian Stelter, so pro-Olbermann that he was seen as an apologist for Bathtub Boy, going so far as to alter or delete posts to conform with the wishes of Olbermann and MSNBC.
Meanwhile, while Twittermann has exploded at news articles that were unfavorable toward his highness, he has remained uncharacteristically silent since this piece hit the web. Things that make you go: hmmmmmm.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Oralmann has changed his twitter page to remove the statement that he is 'Chief News Officer' of Current tv. And he has still said nothing about the NY Times exposé. Hmmmm.
UPDATE UPDATE: Well it took him over 24 hours, but the infamous, deplorable one has finally come up with a response to the NY Times. It is not very substantive, addresses none of the scheduling changes around his appearances, and says nothing about him removing 'Chief News Officer' from his twitter profile. But this is as close to a response as you'll get from Edward R Olbermann:
I've just replied to @BrianStelter as follows: anybody who describes my disposition towards Current as "disgruntled" is either uninformed, working from a personal agenda, wrong - or all of the above
Current TV Fires Staffers as Olbermann Pockets Millions!
When it comes to the Great Divide between the 1% and the 99%, there's no doubt where Al Gore, impresario of Current TV, and his partner in crime Keith Olbermann stand. The New York Times reports that Current is dumping practically the entire staff of Vanguard. This documentary series, once regarded as the flagship program of Gore's media machine, was described by 'Chief News Officer' Olbermann in the most glowing terms. Bathtub Boy noted that Vanguard was "a skeleton -- in the most complimentary sense -- of an outstanding international news operation".
Yeah, well, so much for that. The lucky Vanguard staffers are being reassigned; the rest are getting their walking papers. They're out the door, and here's why:
A person who worked on "Vanguard" for years said that Current, while profitable, seemed unable to afford the documentary unit and the new shows. "If you're committed to boots on the ground journalism, there are just fixed costs you can't get around," he said. "And Current isn't exactly flush."
Really? Whatever could Current be spending money on that it can't afford to keep a few lower-level staffers on their payroll? We know the answer to that, don't we?
Keith Olbermann is not in the witness protection program, but he might as well be. His show on Al Gore's Current TV (America's least watched network) has lost nearly a third of its viewers in four months. Pretty impressive result for $10 million a year. That's just his salary.
Even back then, media writers knew that the facade at Current TV couldn't sustain Oralmann's King Midas salary. It was inevitable that all those lower level jobs would be jettisoned in order to make it possible to pay Olby and keep his bathtub full:
Al Gore, Current's chairman and co-founder, is also whistling a symphony past this particular graveyard. He told Crain's New York: "We're going to be creating a lot of jobs for people who are not afraid to speak truth to power." We can only hope this isn't the former vice president's solution to the unemployment problem.
However, some people are getting good jobs at good wages. In addition to recently hiring Bohrmann, former head of CNN's Washington bureau, it has also picked up Shelley Lewis as executive vice president of programming. Lewis' previous experience includes co-creating the Air America Radio network. Well, that certainly turned out well. The network's other new employees include former MSNBC host Cenk Uygur and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm.
Where Current gets the money to pay these people or even stay in business is anybody's guess.
So Edward R Olbermann and his 1% pals settle into their cushy leather chairs in their Current tv penthouses, while the people who do the real labor of producing documentaries--the hard working 99%--get shown the door. All by command of Current's Chief News Officer: the infamous, deplorable one himself.
Just what is it with Edward R Olbermann and Twitter anyhow? When he's not lying about Twitter to smear someone, or using Twitter to lie about his own words, the infamous deplorable one is getting himself in hot water by ridiculing and minimizing charges of rape. And just when you think Oralmann might have this interweb thing sussed out, he goes and walks into another propellor.
This has all the hallmarks of Olby's previous twitter snits: blocking people, alienating fans, nasty treatment of women...a compendium of Keith's Greatest Hits. Let Ceilidh-ann explain it all in what has become a disturbingly familiar pattern of Olbermann derangement:
My tweet being mentioned here is this:
"What do Bachmann's looks have to do with it, Lewis? #Countdown"
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's physical appearance was mentioned in one of Lewis's comments, which I found unfair since it's unfair and extremely misplaced to emphasise style over substance in politics, especially in regards to women, who have faced such discrimination for so long. I never followed up on this tweet except for a couple replies to friends, and my tweet wasn't meant as some malicious insult to Lewis. Olbermann's justification for blocking me came here again in another reply to a friend of mine:
"Just the last name is far more insulting than just the first. We're done here."
This is new to me. I've always been told that it's ruder to refer to someone you don't know by their first name, since it adds an edge of condescension to the equation, and with twitter, tone is so hard to grasp sometimes. Countdown is a political show and it's commonplace, or at least it is in UK, to refer to political figures by their surnames. I do it all the time and I know I'm not the only one. 140 characters requires brevity. The choice of surname wasn't meant as some damning critique of Lewis, nor was it meant as the insult of the century. Besides, Olbermann refers to someone by their surname a few tweets earlier. Maybe it's only rude if you're British:
There's much more so read the whole thing and marvel at the inner workings of that miasma of paranoia and insecurity that is Olbermann's Brain. Then you'll have some idea why Bathtub Boy has once again gone on a twitter semi-boycott: he'll continue to post plugs for his show, but he won't lower himself by actually replying to the rabble:
Ok, my thanks to everybody, but life is brief. TFN I won't be replying to tweets.
Man, if we wanted to we couldn't make up crazy like this.
We've said it again and again, and the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann continues to verify what Olbermann Watch has been exposing for years. Edward R Olbermann smears people with lies. He gets his source material from blue blogs. Rip 'n' Read Olbermann then repeats whatever smear he finds there, ramping it up with name calling and other hysterical bits of performance art, and the gullible Olbyloons who think he is a 'journalist' with only the most 'reliable sources' lap it up like the credulous lemmings they are.
The latest example: Oralmann claims Rep Alan West boasted of being a member of a white supremacist biker gang. Where did Monkeymann get this hot news flash from? Maybe The Pulp. Possibly Democratic Underground. Whatever it was, Edward R Olbermann obviously never listened to the audio (which clearly reveals West in a sarcastic, this-is-the-kind-of-crap-I-have-to-put-up-with mode) or he did and decided not to let the truth stand in the way of his latest smear.
But even the left-leaning media aren't buying the latest Olbermann Lie. Here's Tommy Christopher:
Keith Olbermann gave Rep. Allen West (R-FL) top honors in his "Worst Persons" segment, ostensibly for "admitting" (and even "bragging") that he was a member of a white supremacist motorcycle gang, after denying any connection to such a gang for the past year or so.
While West's courtship of motorcycle clubs like The Outlaws is still worthy of scrutiny, the fact is that he made no such admission....
On his program last night, Keith Olbermann mangled even the basic background of the story, saying that last year, NBC reported that "goddamned liar" West "had once been a member of an otherwise all-white motorcycle gang."...it's hard to imagine something so obvious getting past everyone on his show.
No it isn't. Bathtub Boy's gaggle of yes-men never tell the Emperor about those new clothes he's wearing. Olbermann wouldn't hire them if they did.
Wall Street Occupier 'Explains' Protests to John Gibson!
Yes, it's one of Edward R Olbermann's peeps, one of those occupiers Herr Olbermahn loves so much, explaining it all to John Gibson. Listen in amazement as Dylan in Vermont dazzles you with his intelligence, command of the facts, and brilliant argumentation. Exactly what you might expect from, say, one of Olby's two dozen viewers:
Olbermann Visits Drug Pushers and Peeps at Wall Street!
He couldn't be bothered to attend a gathering of the 'predominately white' tea party, but the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann did find time to shuffle over to Wall Street and meet with his predominately white unwashed peeps.
These photos, courtesy of the UK Daily Mail, document this historic occasion. It is not known if Oralmann took advantage of the marijuana and heroin sales on offer at the site. But, to use a classic Olby argumentation technique, he has so far refused to denounce the drug sellers and their criminal activities; he has yet to disassociate himself from their deadly trade. Just when will he do so?
There is no joy in Kosville; Mighty Olby has struck out. Hard to believe but the longer he's on Current TV, the more viewers turn away in droves. It was right here at Olbermann Watch where you heard first the truth about Oralmann's ratings: after opening night the numbers would begin their inexorable, inevitable decline. And sure enough, the infamous, deplorable one's audience size has been shrinking so badly even Keith's pocketful of Cialis can't help him any longer.
As reported by the New York Daily News, the pitifully small viewership of Countdown has gotten even smaller:
Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" has experienced quite a comedown since leaving MSNBC.
After debuting to promising ratings on the Current cable network in late June, Olbermann's political commentary show posted its lowest numbers yet the week of Sept 5-11.
...According to one source, "Countdown" ranked among the top 20 cable news shows when it ran on MSNBC. (After almost eight years at the left-leaning network, Olbermann abruptly announced on-air Jan. 21 that that night's show would be his last.)
In August, that source says "Countdown" on Current ranked 65th.
At this rate, Keith will soon be battling it out for bottom place with the ShamWow guy and Snuggies.
Olbermann slammed Henry as "mediocre," and falsely accused him of ascribing violent intent to Hoffa... his slaps at Ed Henry are unwarranted, and inaccurate.
Christopher shows Keith was lying even about the number of words Mr Henry spoke! Is there nothing Oralmann won't fabricate to satisfy his diseased paranoia?
The guiding hand of ex-CNNer David Borhman is already evident at Current, as Edward R Olbermann serves up another stunning example of journalistic brilliance. Word is that this has already been forwarded to the Pulitzer Committee for their urgent consideration:
We've commented repeatedly on how tight-lipped Olbermann's corporate masters have been with ratings information. Olby, who in his salad days at A-Mess-NBC regularly touted his strong (i.e. losing) ratings in the 'money demo', has now lapsed into the sound of silence when it comes to Nielsen numbers.
The reason for that became clear today as the Hollywood Reporter revealed the latest ratings for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann and his community access cable hour. Yes, you guessed it: Countdown has achieved record ratings. Record lows that is. Under Herr Olbermahn's stewardship the program has sunk to its lowest 25-54 viewership level evah:
Keith Olbermann's Countdown on Current hit an all-time low last week in the 25-54 demographic. The show pulled in 85,000 viewers in the demo, that was down 2 percent compared to the previous week when the debt ceiling debate was still roiling Washington. Countdown averaged 208,000 total viewers, up 5 percent week-to-week.
Of course Current suits are spinning the numbers as 'outstanding' (!), but they are whistling past the graveyard. Because things are only going to get worse for Olby:
Olbermann has new competition at 8 p.m. as Anderson Cooper 360 moved into the hour and immediately posted double-digit demo gains compared to CNN's previous time-period average. On Tuesday, Cooper's second night anchoring at 8 p.m., the show averaged 228,000 viewers in the demo. Cooper has anchored the program this week from Africa. He was at the Kenya-Somalia border for Monday's show and Mogadishu on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Go Coop!
How long will Al Gore keep paying Olbermann's salary, which was pegged at $10 million so that Keith could brag he's making as much as Bill O'Reilly? For a whopping 85,000 pairs of eyeballs, compared with the 600,000 to 900,000 demo viewers who turn in to Mr Bill nightly? Remember our cable news chart? Olby's 85,000 viewers lands him in 48th place, behind the already-cancelled Cenk Uygur, FNC's 3:00 am Red Eye, and HLN's struggling Showbiz Tonight. Well done, Al. Keep it up, Keith!
Can Current's New Boss Make a Silk Purse Out of a Sow's Ear?
David Bohrman was best known as the CNN exec who came up with such brilliant journalistic insights as election-night holograms. Now he has fled the CNN fold, only to take charge of Current TV...which is like leaving a multi-national corporation to go and run a cable access station. No, it isn't like that. It is that!
But have no fear. In an interview Borhman promises that Current will remain all progressive all the time. The subject of ratings comes up, but DB gives no information whatsoever. In other words, they still suck.
Respected critic David Zurawik ponders if even this wunderkind from CNN can make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that is Keith Olbermann:
Maybe if Borhman digs deep enough, he will find a journalist under all the rhetorical mustard that now constitutes Olbermann's act. The question is whether Olbermann will be wise enough to listen to his new boss and become a responsible member of the press rather than a strange performer in a sideshow tent far off the midway of TV and American political life.
It's almost like he's in his own little world. Oh wait, he is. It's OlbyPlanet. That's the place where Keith Olbermann speaks and the populace rush to action, overwhelming the country with righteous indignation...because Keith told them to.
Here he is, tweeting away, about his latest manifesto, a call for people to take to the streets on his say so:
Tonight on Countdown: @AlGore on the debt deal, plus my Special Comment on how we must take to the streets to take back the Safety Net
Wow. You can imagine the DC Mall filling up tomorrow morning after Herr Olbermahn orders his vast audience of a few thousand to 'take to the streets'! He's pimping his latest Special Education Comment further at his favorite blog, the Daily Kos, in a teaser post that is nonetheless sprinkled with such unsurprising statements as:
Given the choice between a Democratic president in 2013 and a Republican one - possibly one who is certifiably insane - I'm going to choose the Democratic one every time.
Now there's a shocker. This from the 'journalist' who once bragged that he didn't vote because people might get the idea that he had picked a favorite, something he as a 'journalist' would never do. So much for that! Anyhow, tonight he will also bring on Kos himself, who maybe will again discuss murdered Americans overseas with his classic line 'Thcrew 'Em!', but more likely will thimply therve ath a human Xerox mathine mindlethly dittoing everything Olby thez.
This time it doesn't matter that the suits at Current keep the ratings a deep, dark secret. We'll know tomorrow if the streets of our nation's capital are overrun with outraged Olbots demanding a Safety Net. Or if the response to Oralmann's latest blowhard diatribe is another great, nationwide yawn. Put your money on the latter.
The universe appears to have conspired to rob the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann of his last shred of relevance. His girl friend dumped him (once she acquired a cushy job working for the same company as Herr Olbermahn). Then his company dumped him, tossing him out on his ear, as has happened so frequently in what we laughingly call his 'career'.
Now Keith Olbermann, we understand, does a nightly tv show on a little-seen cable channel. A channel so unimportant that if you have cable tv, there's a 50% chance you don't get the Olby Channel. He rails nightly against the usual names from his 'enemies' list, and actually believes there are throngs watching and hanging on his every word. But Current has stopped even giving out weekly ratings, adopting a curious silence about what many are convinced is the continued erosion of Oralmann's already-miniscule audience.
Indeed, things on OlbyPlanet have become so irrelevant that it's a challenge to come up with something to post about. Outside of a few gullible cranks that hang out at his disreputable blog, nobody cares any more what he says. He's not getting noticed by the websites who watch cable news...maybe because he isn't on a cable news channel. John Gibson can't be bothered with Keith any more. KO is totally off the grid. Olbermann isn't even a has-been. He's a has-was.
You just can't get more utterly irrelevant than Keith Olbermann. So we have trouble coming up with things to post about him. The best we can do for now is to trump up a post about how utterly inconsequential Olby has become. He's the national yawn. On his best days, he aspires to be peripheral. And that's the name of that tune.
The infamous, deplorable one will not be making an appearance tonight. Instead, Bathman's sidekick Robin will be running The Hour of Spin. So to assuage your disappointment, please enjoy the following. It's the next best thing to much better than the real Oralmann:
If you've been following Edward R Olbermann's commentaries on the debt ceiling, you know that he's been pushing the notion that the President isn't bound by his oath to the Constitution. Just raise the debt ceiling on your own, sez Olby. Never mind that the Constitution gives the power of the purse to the Congress, not the Executive branch:
In a rare burst of transparency, the suits at Current have generously given us ratings for the second week of Countdown...not night by night, mind you, but simply the average numbers for week two. You will recall how Olby trumpeted his 'key demo' (25-54) ratings for the first week, an astonishing, jaw-dropping 133,000 viewers. Of course what Oralmann didn't mention is that, compared with all the other programs on genuine cable news channels, that puts him in about 40th place.
Those lackluster numbers tumbled further in the second week of Countdown on Current. Rather than building an audience, Edward R Olbermann appears to be driving them off, as week two found his 133K viewers dwindling to 93,000. In the all-important, nothing-else-matters, ultra-significant 'money demo' (to quote Olby). And plugging that number into the chart finds the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann now plummeting to 48th place, behind even such dayside MSNBC failures as D-Rat and the Daily Rundown.
Funny thing, Herr Olbermahn didn't crank out any self-congratulatory tweets about these new numbers. What an odd oversight. Of course, while tweeting a suspicious claim about his premiere night numbers being higher than originally reported, he did toss out this bit of bushwa to cover his backside:
TWITTERMAN: Caveat: #s will bounce all over the damn place for months
Yeah, well right now they're only bouncing in one direction: DOWN!
On tonight's Hour of Spin, Merkle will show his great independence and serious journalist cred by completely ignoring the story that has the country transfixed: the Anthony verdict. Instead, he'll focus on attacking Republicans (Rick Santorum will be a key victim), which is of course the mission statement of Countdown.
What Olbermann (and Current) Aren't Telling Us About His Ratings
No nightly ratings reports. CurrenTV and Keith 'Transparency' Olbermann have been unusually secretive about the ratings for the new Countdown. So far we have only been given two sets of figures: ratings in the key 25-54 demo for the first night (179K), and a summary rating of the first week: 131K 25-54 viewers.
Now it's clear that the premiere night viewership was much higher than the overall weekly average proved to be. That means that while it appeared that his debut put him in 29th place compared to the rest of the cable news viewership, going by a week's worth of ratings--a more representative sample--finds the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann did considerably worse than 29th place. In fact, that number places him tied with reruns of Celebrity Apprentice in 40th place!
But that week's worth of numbers also includes the inflated premiere night ratings, an unrepresentative thumb on the scale that does not represent the night-by-night viewership of the program. So another way to look at the numbers is to exclude the opening night outlier. Mathematics tells us that the other four nights (Tuesday-Friday) had to average 119K viewers for the week's overall numbers to be 133K. Well, a 119K nightly viewership is even more of an embarrassment for Edward R Olbermann. Given that kind of meager audience he now finishes in 42nd place, behind every program on FNC (including the 3:00 am Red Eye), behind Joe Scarborough, behind Headline News's morning program...even behind CNN's struggling American Morning.
42nd place! At this rate it won't be long before Squawk Box and Sermonette start out-rating Oralmann. As a first week, it can only be called...disastrous.
Comments are open!
2Q 11 (LIVE+SD) FINAL Competitive Program Analysis (excluding breaking news & specials)2Q'11 FINAL (03/28/11-06/24/11)Ranked On:A25-54
FOXNTHE OREILLY FACTORMTWTF__06:00A -11:00P 636
FOXNHANNITYMTWTF__06:00A -11:00P 504
FOXNGLENN BECKMTWTF__06:00A -11:00P 413
FOXNON THE RECORD W/GRETAMTWTF__06:00A -11:00P 398
Olbermann Revives Grudge Against Petraeus with New Attack
Keith Olbermann is such a slippery, weaselly bastard. On September 10, 2007, the hot political topic of the day was the moveon.org advertisement that portrayed General David Petraeus as 'General Betray Us'. Politicos from Mitt Romney to Nancy Pelosi condemned this attempt to paint a military hero as a traitor who would betray his country. Of course Edward R Olbermann chimed in, attacking Republicans as 'egregious' for criticizing the ad, while pretending to be reluctant to echo the ad by saying: 'Not to defend that phraseology'.
Funny, how Olbermahn pretended to disapprove of the Petraeus-BetrayUs line...funny, because it was Olbermann himself who created it! Weeks before the moveon.org ad appeared with its reprehensible language, Edward R Olbermann had already beaten them to the punch, bellowing in his opening spiel:
OLBERMANN: Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? The Petraeus report, less Petraeus, more betrayaeus (ph).
Just to drive the point home he also plastered it on screen, as the graphic illustrates. But when Olbermann's own language became so toxic that even Nancy Pelosi rejected it, Keith pretended like he had nothing to do with it, and whimpered: 'Not to defend that phraseology'. As we said, Olby is a weasel, and a spineless one at that.
So what does this all have to do with tonight's Hour of Spin? Follow. Oralmann's vicious attack on Petraeus, impugning his patriotism by calling him a traitor, had its roots in Gen Petraeus's plan to surge in Iraq. And Gen Olbermahn didn't like that, not one bit. He railed against it night after night, predicting that Petraeus's reckless plan was doomed to result in a massacre of US forces, and would produce nothing more than 'failed blood-letting'.
Oralmann kept up his smears of Petraeus. A year later, as the success of the surge became evident and the predicted 'blood-letting' failed to take place, Olby moved the goalposts, insisting that the goal of the surge wasn't about reducing violence anyway, so there! And besides, he pointed out with the loopy assistance of Rachel Maddow, Petraeus is just trying to 'sell a political platform'.
For normal people what happened next would have been the end of the grudge. A candidate for President was asked about the surge in Iraq. His response:
It succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
The candidate who said that? Our current President: Barack Obama. That should've been enough even for Olbermann to pack it in, and admit (if only to himself) that he was wrong about the surge, and wrong about Petraeus.
Ah, but the infamous, deplorable one does not give up his grudges so easily. Being proven wrong only deepened and intensified his seething hatred for Petraeus. And now, years after it was clear to everyone--even Barack Obama--that the General was right and Keith Olbermann was horribly, disastrously incorrect, Olby hasn't moved on. He's never admitted he got it wrong. He's never retracted calling the General an un-American traitor--let alone apologized for it. And tonight he will launch a fresh attack on David Petraeus.
The latest Special Education Comment will demand (yes, demand! Are you listening, Mr President?!) that Barack Obama pull the nomination of David Petraeus to head the CIA. Because? Well, he'll have the usual talking-point reasons assembled by trollling through his favorite blue blogs, and no doubt he'll frame it as having to do with 'torture' or some other pretextual justification. But now you know the truth, the real reason why Olbermann hates General David Petraeus and is still holding a grudge for nearly half a decade.
Clever Olbermann Trick to Annoy MSNBC Lasts Less Than a Week
No doubt Edward R Olbermann thought this was the cleverest thing in the world. He would make his community access cable show run over each night with three extra minutes, thereby screwing up people who wanted to watch shows at 9:00 pm (primarily an attempt to annoy those evil overlords at MSNBC who dared to fire him earlier this year). Well, all petty things must come to an end, and the infamous, deplorable one has already decided to abandon this oh-so-clever stratagem, reversing course before he's even concluded his first week on the air!
Olby took to twitter this afternoon to spin the decision to his credulous followers:
At @current we'll soon have a 9 PM companion commentary show to mine. But in the interim there is no reason for me to be overlapping with my friend Rachel, nor to ignore the wishes of those who've been so loyal to both of us for so long. We've heard you: as of tomorrow night Countdown finishes at 9. Bonus stuff will instead go to Countdown Online. Thanks for upsiding my head on this :)
Note the 'my friend Rachel' wording, designed to distract the reader from noticing that this entire bit of Olby chicanery was targeted at his 'friend' Rachel in the first place!
Meanwhile, with the heavily hyped premiere now receding into history, Olbermann continues to keep any more current ratings a deep, dark secret. No leaks, no self-congratulatory tweets, no snarky comments about beating CNN. Man, those numbers must be something else. If you think Keith Olbermann should lift the veil of secrecy on his nightly Nielsens, tweet him at @KeithOlbermann and tell him so. It's about time Oralmann delivered the same sort of transparency that he demands of everyone else!
On tonight's Hour (+ 3 minutes) of Spin, the usual gang of (D) politicians and left-wing spin maestros on the most one-sided program since Radio North Korea. Attacks on Republicans over the budget talks, the Afghanistan war, and agit-prop for gay marriage, drugs, and illegal immigration. Special guest: Jeanine 'racism, straight-up' Garafalo. Because Countdown always gets the most respected intellectuals as guests.
Why Has the Olbermann/Current Hype Machine Suddenly Gone Silent?
It was Tuesday, around 6:30 pm. Keith Olbermann and his corporate overlords couldn't wait to hype their amazing 29th-place finish on Monday, premiere night for Countdown 2.0 on Current. The numbers were promptly leaked to the 'right' people, and Olby himself jumped to direct his twitter lemmings where to read all about it.
But oddly, the information provided only told half the story. Current and Oralmann boasted about their ratings in the important, vital, crucial, nothing-else-matters, significant, key demo of 25-54, but what about total viewers? That information was withheld, and remains so even now. Why? That's a question that also occurred to Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik, who noted the irony of the situation:
The main reason for such a redacted ratings release is that it makes it easier to spin numbers when the folks are only getting the bright and shiny ones. And isn't that just the kind of corporate spin and truth-shading that Olbermann says his show is so against?...
But it is hypocritical, isn't it, to sit in front of a camera from 8 to 9 p.m. five nights a week demanding transparency from everyone else, and then playing the selective-release, PR, spin game with your Nielsen numbers?
But that's Olbermann, isn't it?
It sure is. Mr Zurawik continues:
By the way, as folks like Conan O'Brien know, opening night numbers have a tendency to be inflated. So, let's not go nuts one way or the other over these.
Isn't that a coincidence. Here it is, only minutes before Wednesday's Hour (and three extra minutes of Olby pettiness) of Spin is to commence, and we're still in the dark about the ratings for Tuesday, the day after opening night, which as Mr Zurawik says will likely show a marked decline from Monday's numbers. Not a peep from Edward R Olbermann. Not a peep from Current. Suddenly the hype machine, in overdrive for weeks, has gone silent. Why?
It could be just a minor delay, and if there is any info released on this tonight we'll update this post with the Big News as soon as it becomes available. But what if Olby and Current decide they aren't going to give us any ratings for Tuesday? Or Wednesday? Or any other day where the numbers can't be spun to make Countdown appear to be a success? The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann could go on the air night after night and demand everyone else be transparent...while he and his underlings hide the truth from the rest of world. That would truly be one of the Great Moments in Olbypocrisy.
While we await the now long-overdue Tuesday Transparency, we invite you to recap tonight's atrocious episode of Countdown. It will kick off with the Prez talking to us about Afghanistan, and then Oralmann will be on with his instant analysis.
By the way, one of Monkeymann's guests will be Matt Taibbi, who just by coincidence has written a scorching hit-piece on Michele Bachmann. Plus Fat Ass will welcome none other than 9/11 truther Van Jones. Hey, what a great opportunity to attack Bachmann and bash Fox News! After all, both of those are far more important than talking about Afghanistan. It's more of that vaunted Olbermann 'news judgment'.
Current Claims Their Secret Numbers Show Countdown a Success!
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Current has released the first-night numbers for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. The channel claims that Edward R Olbermann attracted 179,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demo, crowing that they "beat CNN"! Of course at that hour CNN is running the basement-dwelling Eliot Spitzer hour, so that's not saying much. Still, it's an impressive first-night for Herr Olbermahn, but with the curiosity factor satiated, we should look for those numbers to sag as the week goes on.
But can we trust these numbers at all? Just because Current says something doesn't make it true; don't forget who their Chief News Officer is. According to TV By the Numbers:
CurrentTV does not subscribe to the Nielsen service that would regularly measure its programs (presumably because it's only in around 60 million homes). Until CurrentTV subscribes to be measured, there's no chance we (or anybody else) will regularly see any numbers and unless they order a special report and then release those numbers, you won't likely see any one-off reporting either.
Interestingly, the word 'Nielsen' doesn't appear anywhere in the Hollywood Reporter piece. Hmm, do we know these numbers from Current are Nielsen numbers at all, as opposed to something Olby's interns came up with while making random calls to the Daily Kos subscriber base? It all remains to be seen, but assuming arguendo the 179K is correct, where would that leave Olby? In the top 10 cable news shows? Top 20? Well, here is the list (25-54 demo). Note: this list only covers early morning and primetime shows. Fox News daytime programs routinely out-rate many of the primetime shows on other channels, but the nightly ratings do not include the daytime hours:
O'Reilly - 735K
Hannity - 483K
O'Reilly repeat - 438K
Nancy Grace - 419K
Glenn Beck - 411K
Fox Report - 341K
Jane Velez-Mitchell - 332K
Anderson Cooper - 332K
Bret Baier - 329K
Ed Show - 319K
Fox & Friends - 310K
Rachel Maddow - 310K
Joy Behar - 264K
Prime News - 239K
The Last Word - 237K
Cooper 360 (11 pm) - 226K
HLN Special Report - 212K
Piers Morgan - 212K
Last Word (11 pm) - 206K
Morning Joe - 203K
Situation Room - 186K
Hardball - 183K
Countdown - 179K
There you have it. Edward R Olbermann finishes in the #23 slot (in fact lower than that given the numbers that Fox daytime programs pull). Isn't it ironic? Markos 'The Liar' Moulitsas ridiculed Joe Scarborough as the 'lowest rated' morning cable news host...yet Joe still has more viewers than Keith Olbermann does! If anyone believed Markos, that would mean Olbermann loses to every morning cable news show on the air, but of course we know better than to believe Markos. It's enough to realize that KO is pulling up the rear, exactly where he belongs.
Discuss, resolve, and recap tonight's gruesome Hour of Spin, which will revisit Jon Stewart vs Chris Wallace, John McCain, Afghanistan...and hey, maybe Edward R Olbermann will even discuss some topics he didn't cover less than 24 hours ago.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Politico tells us that Current has recently started being rated by Nielsen. They also note that Current has forbade Nielsen from releasing the total viewership (all ages) numbers for Countdown, from which we can conclude that they suck. Meanwhile, here's an interesting bit of context about Current's status in the overall cable picture.
For a fuller picture of how Mr Opening Night's ratings compare with other cable news programs, here are the top cable news programs (25-54 demo) for May 2011, with Olby added in. This list includes the daytime programs the nightly list omits:
O'Reilly - 630K
Hannity - 498K
Glenn Beck - 412K
Greta - 405K
Fox Report - 398K
O'Reilly (11pm) - 396K
Anderson Cooper - 388K
Fox & Friends - 388K
Bret Baier - 374K
Rachel Maddow - 336K
Anderson Cooper (11pm) - 322K
America's Newsroom - 317K
The Ed Show - 298K
The Last Word - 266K
Piers Morgan - 250K
John King USA - 245K
The Situation Room - 240K
America Live - 228K
Your World w/Cavuto - 217K
Happening Now - 216K
Studio B - 209K
CNN Newsroom - 205K
MSNBC Investigates - 201K
Hardball - 198K
The Last Word (11pm) - 197K
In the Arena - 197K
Morning Joe - 182K
Red Eye - 179K
Countdown 2.0 - 179K
As you can see, compared with May's ratings, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is even further down the totem pole. Daytime programs on CNN beat his inflated opening night numbers. In fact, every daytime program on Fox News beats him like a rented mule. But Olby did manage to tie Red Eye...which airs at 3:00 am.
Countdown 2.0 Premiere: The Official OlbyWatch Recap!
The new and improved Hour of Spin featured the same sort of opening spiel as ever. A rant against the Libyan war, and a slam on Reagan: "He's dead and he was a lousy President". Clarence Thomas. Conservatives selling their souls, And already a special education comment: government by the people, not by the corporations...like the ones who sponsor Countdown. And greatest cellphone video ever, where the audio drops out for an uncomfortably long time. We're back on OlbyPlanet guys, so watch for attacks on Fox, Republicans, etc. But can the infamous, deplorable one find a way to actually bring up Bush for some primo bashing? Stay tuned!
#5 begins with "As I was saying..." Attack on Rove and Liz Cheney [ding!] for wanting to get the Libyan war over with by ramping up the strikes. Olby cites the Libyan foreign minister's condemnation of the USA. Yeah, his sources are stellar as usual. Keithy stumbles into an accuracy (it had to be inadvertent) regarding the Congress role in war-making. He says Dennis Kucinich (D) is suing on this point. Actually, Keith doesn't want to admit it but the lawsuit was not filed by just Kucinich but by a bipartisan group of ten lawmakers, both (D) and (R).
Then to explore the constitutional issues, who does Fat Ass bring on? Fatter Ass! Michael Moore, who is an expert in...what exactly? Never mind, at least he didn't joke about wanting a hurricane to kill Republicans, like he did the time Olby found it so funny. The discussion was about as illuminating as a burned-out black light, and of course since you can't take anything either one of them says at face value, it had no educational merit whatsoever. But it did serve a key Olbermahn purpose: they managed to swerve the topic to cherry-picking, torture, and--you guessed it--George W Bush! That's more of a stretch than Olby's vest but it was precisely where Oralmann wanted to go.
Then the special comment: contexualization, viewpoint, independence, malfeasance of Republicans, timidity of Democrats, and the obligatory obscure literary quote. This time: Harriet Beecher Stowe. And we were hoping for JK Rowling. But we're thankful for small favors: it wasn't Thurber.
Wow, the first break features ads from Lexus, Foster Grant, and Pradaxa (Big Pharma!). No corporatism here, eh Keithy? The break was interrupted by a typical tease: "Markos Moulitsas inside the Republican Cult".
The next story (apparently they're not being numbered as they were on A-Mess-NBC) is an attack on Clarence Thomas over 'reported' contributions to his wife and to a non-profit library. Now who better to analyze the ethics of a Supreme Court Justice than a convicted felon who is also a disbarred lawyer? That's right, it's John Dean lecturing others about ethics. Sort of like getting advice on modesty from Anthony Weiner. Sure enough Dean manages to bring Nixon into it. It must be noted here that both Olbermann and Dean focused their attack on the Supreme Court's black justice. Isn't this 'racism, straight-up?' Tease for an attack on Fox News. Talk about nostalgia! Man, it's like 'That 70s Show', only more horrible.
Second break: Ads from Microsoft bookend a lengthy promo for a Current football show. Somebody couldn't straight sell all their ad time?
Ooh goody, it's the Current version of Oddball, cleverly called...'Time marches on'. Gee, the first story is about...a Microsoft store. Now there's a coincidence. Then Hollywood dresses and Japanese robots. A tease for a Limbaugh attack ("right-wing radio talker").
Third break: Ford Motors, Zantac (Big Pharma!)...hey, good thing they're not delivering corporate news on this show, ain't it?
Attack on talk radio, complete with the obligatory mispronouncing of Mark Levin's name and cringe-inducing Oralmann 'voice impression'. Lonesome Rhodes [ding!]. Politico's Kenneth Vogel sacrificed any claim to integrity he had by appearing on OlbyPlanet to hype his report on alleged stealth advertising on talk radio. Monkeymann couldn't wait to compare it to 'payola', and expressed phony 'shock'. Vogel was Great Thanksed.
Fourth break: Chrysler motors, Geico, Spiriva (more Big Pharma!...it seems like we won't be seeing any pharmaceutical exposes soon).
KO once boasted that he was dropping 'Worst Persons' in a nod to the new civility, but here it is again. Bronze: Sarah Palin. (Congrats to all who picked Palin as one of the three. Olby is about as unpredictable as Pavlov's dog). Silver: Fox Noise [ding!] He bellowed that Fox 'deceptively edited' 'one key moment' from the Jon Stewart interview...how so? They edited the broadcast version, just as Stewart does, and posted the uncut version on line, just as Stewart does. Somehow, Edward R Olbermann failed to mention that Fox posted the entire unedited video online. Somehow Edward R Olbermann failed to mention that Fox's online video was the source of the clip he played! And his claim that they edited out 'one key moment'? Misleading: the unedited interview runs nearly 25 minutes, what aired is about 10 minutes less. A lot had to be trimmed to fit it into one Fox News Sunday segment, not just 'one key moment'. As usual, when Merkle attacks Fox News, it's not what he says, it's all the things he doesn't say, that prove him a liar. Gold: Some dumb cellphone video.
Fifth break: T Mobile, plus more Microsoft, Foster Grant, Chrysler ads. None of these are corporations of course, because Countdown would never take ads from corporations.
Final story: Inside the secessionist, racist Republican Cult...while running down these stories Monkeymann started talking at a mile a minute, because it was 8:57 and he still hadn't brought on GOP expert Markos Moulitsas. Too bad we can't do voice impressions here, like Oralmann does. But we'll try. Moulitsas: Jon Huntsthman ith not embrathed by the grathrooth. hith tough thlog ith pretty much impothible. Itth gonna be tough to untheat Obama. Olby monumentously announced he would go over the 9pm time, to allow Moulitsas to claim Joe Thcarborough hath veto power at M-Eth-NBC (which is why Markos hasn't been on MSNBC). Moulitsas lied, saying Thcarborough is the lowetht rated cable newth morning hotht. Funny thing, neither Markos nor Olby mentioned that Markos was banned for spreading a rumor that Joe Scarborough had murdered a woman in Florida. Funny that little detail didn't come up, ain't it? Moulitsas: I have a thick thkin. I'm happy that you're here, you get to call the shots, and I'm going to do everything I can to help you. (You know, like trying to convince people that Joe Scarborough is a murderer.)
Papers into the camera and the first Countdown is mercifully over.
Countdown to Countdown: Make Your Predictions Here!
Tomorrow...tomorrow...it's only a day away. The frenzied panting of the Olbyloons will reach a orgiastic climax in just about 24 hours from now. The premiere of Countdown 2.0 on the community-access channel Current is set to revolutionize television. Dispensing with false humility (or any other kind), Edward R Olbermann will actually have an enlarged photograph of Murrow decorating his set. Ever the master of subtlety.
Use this space to give us your pre-premiere predictions, ratings speculations, and (if you like) best wishes to the infamous, deplorable one. And come back 24 hours from now to share your instant reactions to Keith Olbermann's march to marginalization.
In a much-hyped tell-all 'explosive' interview designed as part of the publicity push for the ever-approaching premiere of Countdown on some cable-access channel in the 300s, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann reveals that he has scooped up the much-in-demand services of a reporter with impeccable credentials. Yes, David 'Slippery' Shuster, who for years played Robin to Olby's Bathman, will be Oralmann's substitute anchor (mainly when there's a ball game in the vicinity) on the new incarnation of Countdown.
David Shuster's reputation as an impartial journalist is well-known. Before he made MSNBC history with his 'pimped out' comment about Chelsea Clinton, Davey was so eager to air phony attacks on Sarah Palin that he actually broadcast an internet hoax thinking it was a news story! And even after he was suspended Shuster was still lying, only doing it on Twitter. But Robin is best known for his scoop--which he beat every other reporter in the country to. It was on Countdown that he broke the news that 'Karl Rove will be indicted'. It was a shining moment in Shuster's illustrious career--and might we say a defining one?
The rest of the Hollywood Reporter article is even more free PR for Olby and goes into all the bridges he burned at MSNBC--including Rachel Maddow, his one time protoge. Read it at your peril as we eagerly await the infamous, deplorable one's upcoming debut on community-access cable.
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann quickly jumped at the chance to snark about a tv chyron that read 'Obama Bin Laden'. First he claimed it was the Fox News station in Chicago:
TWITTERMANN; KeithOlbermann: Oh this gets worse: MT @blcsfo LOOK AT HOW FOX NEWS (Chicago station) REPORTED BIN LADEN DEATH http://j.mp/jDzGnI
Then he decided it wasn't Chicago, and figured out it was Sacramento:
TWITTERMANN: Correcting city: MT @blcsfo LOOK AT HOW FOX NEWS (Sacramento station) REPORTED BIN LADEN DEATH http://j.mp/jDzGnI
Fox40 in Sacramento is not 'Fox News'. They're a local station that carries Fox broadcast network programming (like 'American Idol'). They don't air Fox News, they aren't even owned by Fox. They're owned by Tribune Broadcasting. But that didn't stop Edward R Olbermann:
TWITTERMANN: Note Fox News has switched to "Usama Bin Laden" presumably so they don't get caught calling him "Obama Bin Laden" for a 2nd time tonight
An Olbermann Double Lie! Fox News didn't call him 'Obama Bin Laden', and they didn't 'switch' to calling him 'Usama'--because that's the spelling FNC has used for years. Mainly because it's the spelling that federal agencies like the FBI have used for years.
Of course the supreme irony of all this is that Oralmann himself actually committed the gaffe that he rushed to slam 'Fox News' for. And on his very own website, no less:
Mr Bush personally de-prioritized the hunt for Obama...
Keith Olbermann makes an embarrassing gaffe, and then to cover it up lies that it happened on 'Fox News'. Ladies and gentlemen, the new Murrow!
Red Eye Rips Olbermann's Gutter Attack on S.E. Cupp!
Enjoy:
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Thanks to The Blaze for some grade-A linkage and a great post with S.E. Cupp's reaction on this morning's Glenn Beck radio program.
UPDATE UPDATE: Special thanks to Keith Oralmann himself, who tweeted a link to this post to his credulous followers. KO has always been an Olbermann Watch reader, and it's good to know he still comes here for his Olby updates even while he sits by himself, out of work, with only his bathtub to console him.
It's our pal, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, self-styled policeman of 'civility', who turned on conservative commentator S.E. Cupp today with a viciously repellent thought: she should never have been born!
TWITTERMANN: On so many levels she's a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does.
The Associated Press reports on the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann's appearance at Cornell:
"The whole premise of being a Republican is that somewhere in the middle of the night some poor person has a dollar that some rich man deserves," Olbermann said to warm applause.
Demonstrating his environmental consciousness, not to mention his sympathy for the downtrodden, Oralmann was ushered to and from the event in an oversized, gas-guzzling stretch limo:
Read the backstory on Olby's appearance and his carbon-belching 'whip baller' here.
Something to tide you over while we wait for Keith Olbermann to make a renewed attempt at relevancy. Here's John Gibson and crew bringing you dramatic readings from blue blogs (Olby's favorite news sources) reacting to the vote in Wisconsin:
Greg Gutfeld, Andy Levy, Bill Schulz and their guests gave a moving tribute to the career of journalistic legend Keith Olbermann, and we have the video for your viewing pleasure:
John Gibson: Don't Believe What You Read--Comcast Fired Olbermann!
John Gibson worked at MSNBC, worked with (and subbed for) the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. He reveals what he says really went on, why Olby was canned, and the many and varied excellent reasons for dumping him:
FLASHBACK:Olby boasts that Comcast isn't going to fire him because of all the money he brings in:
Those of you who've posted about Comcast meaning the end of my show or Rachel's can, I think, relieve yourselves of such concerns....Whatever else you think of these guys, they are not in the habit of saying "a billion in profit over the next five years? Who needs it! Cancel the shows that generate it! (Oh, and let's keep paying both of their salaries, too)."
FLASHBACK: John Gibson predicts Comcast will fire Keith Olbermann:
Olbermann Smear Victim Makes World's Most Futile Request
Keith Olbermann smeared John S Wilson on the air after Wilson wrote a post about succession plans for incapacitated Congressmen. Then Mr Wilson made what we rightly describe as the most futile request in the world, and Oralmann's response was just what you'd expect:
WILSON: @KeithOlbermann Don't believe everything you hear. I'm a registered Democrat.
WILSON: @KeithOlbermann @Eugene_Robinson Ha. Let's hope so. It'd be nice to be invited on so I may respond.
WILSON: @KeithOlbermann Are you willing to have me on so I may respond? I think that's fair.
TWITTERMANN: You've already said your piece, sadly
WILSON: @KeithOlbermann I don't need to be on TV. My body of work speaks for itself. However, I do deserve a chance to respond.
WILSON: @KeithOlbermann You're not scared are you? You ranted for 6 minutes. I can't get 3? That's all I need to make my point.
TWITTERMANN: Your point was made. You embarrassed yourself, this country, and the human race.
WILSON: @NathanEmpsall @KeithOlbermann What do you call a commentator who won't let someone respond to their scurrilous charges? Coward fits.
WILSON: Ask @KeithOlbermann if he'll invite me to talk about my article he lambasted for 6 min. last night - http://on.msnbc.com/gTGjnO
WILSON: @KeithOlbermann defines a debate as a 6 min. rant with no chance of his opponent replying. Good to know.
Edward R Olbermann's idea of journalism: level attacks, and don't give your victim the chance to respond. Even when the 'facts' Olby spews turn out to be untrue:
Case in point: The article in question did not first appear on a "right wing" blog, as Think Progress and Olbermann intoned. In fact, it appeared on The Loop 21, an African-American opinion blog that not only permits diversity of opinion and thought but thrives on it.
Contrary to Olbermann's insinuations, as a Governor's Fellow I wasn't a member of Gov. McDonnell's (R-VA) administration any more than I was chief of staff for the two Democratic Virginia state legislators I interned for.
Read Mr Wilson's full response and learn all the stuff Keith Olbermann hides from his gullible viewers.
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Paul Ryan (R) with Ezra the K and far-left TPM hack.
Complaints about as-yet nonexistent spending cuts with Jonathan Alter Ego.
Giffords update.
Another thrilling Friday thpecial: thermonizing with Thurber as Keith thends hith latht viewer thoundly to thleep.
Time for Another Lesson in Civility from Keith Olbermann
Keith 'You're a Fascist!' Olbermann spent last night bellowing that Joe Liebermann is a 'delusional liar'. It's part of the 'new tone', don't you know. What can we expect on tonight's Hour of Spin?
Attack on Jan Brewer (R) with a State Senator who is a...wait for it...(D)! HuffPo Howard joins in the parroting.
Attack on 'the right' with Geno Robinson.
Rachel Maddow lookalike Chris Hayes to rejoice that the filibuster, which was sacred to Olby just two years ago, is going to be weakened.
Attack on Glenn Beck.
Attack on Alabama Governor (R) with a real OlbyPlanet-style 'expert': a comedienne!
Time to Ratchet Up the Smears: It's Another Special Education Comment!
What's this? Another spittle-flinging rant from Edward R Olbermann. That's right. You see he's suddenly very perturbed. Because despite all the talk about civility, rhetoric, and the like, it seems nobody has come out and condemned violent rhetoric. Well except for Olby, of course. So that means another ten minutes of melodramatic bluster...in the name of 'civility'.
What is really means is a chance for Krazy Keith to go after those eeevil Fox people. Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and--the greatest Olbsession of them all--O'Reilly! Hey, this would be a good time to demand again (Oralmann loves to demand things) that Obama back out of his interview with Mr Bill. Now this is surely just a coincidence, but yesterday this began running:
How that must drive the infamous, deplorable one up a padded wall. The green-eyed monster stalks again.
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Republicans with the civil Howard Dean (D).
Another attack on Republicans with the civil Chris Hayes (Lefty).
Gabby Giffords update, Eric Fuller rehabilitation.
Attack on 'rhetoric' (i.e. Fox, Limbaugh etc) with David 'Children of the' Corn (D).
Attack on Rudy Giuliani (R).
Special Education Comment aimed at...well you can guess.
TUESDAY UPDATE:
Attack on Rep Gohmert (R) w/ Ezra the K and The Wolffe Man.
Repeal Obamacare and throw 140 million people off their insurance! But wait...the bill only added 30 million people to the rolls, so how can going back to where things were cause 140 million to lose coverage? Don't try to make sense out of it. It's OlbyLogic.
Polls show people blame Palin (R) and angry rhetoric for the Tucson shooting! We can imagine what kind of polls those are. Ex-conservative David Frum shreds his reputation by beaming up to OlbyPlanet.
The term "blood libel" has taken on a broad metaphorical meaning in public discourse. Although its historical origins were in theologically based false accusations against the Jews and the Jewish People,its current usage is far broader. I myself have used it to describe false accusations against the State of Israel by the Goldstone Report. There is nothing improper and certainly nothing anti-Semitic in Sarah Palin using the term to characterize what she reasonably believes are false accusations that her words or images may have caused a mentally disturbed individual to kill and maim. The fact that two of the victims are Jewish is utterly irrelevant to the propriety of using this widely used term.
On tonight's Hour of Spin (airing at 11:00 pm):
Tucson Memorial coverage and Giffords updates
Attack on Palin (R) for 'blood feud'.
Attack on John Boehner (R).
THURSDAY UPDATE: There isn't any. Not a peep out of Olby since shortly after noon. Don't surprised if he's in the tub tonight.
The infamous, deplorable one is loose on Twitter again, and there you can see him in his true element. The witticisms, the pithy exchanges, and the rapier-sharp intellect are exactly what you might expect from Herr Olbermahn. Here he explains the policy of his program to exclude opinions he disagrees with:
JOHN STROMBERGER: If presenting one side of a story was a competition, you would be world champion.
TWITTERMANN: There are not two sides to the premise that we need to drop the violent rhetoric. Sorry.
Of course, when caught in a corner, sometimes Edward R Olbermann will resort to such things as bragging about his 'Ivy League' education:
AUGUSTINE 25: Reviewed your comments on murder of Hillary Clinton. In 2008, they were dangerous. In 2011, they are unforgiveable.
TWITTERMANN: Made no such comments. But if pretending this assuages your guilt, go for it
TWITTERMANN: btw I was a TA at Cornell. As an undergrad.
Oooooh. Isn't that special? Should someone catch him misinforming his gullible followers with untrue 'facts', Olby, who never played football (or any other known sport) proves adept at moving the goalposts:
TWITTERMANN: You'll notice the AZ shooter was stopped by unarmed individuals. Last time a vigilante stopped an event like this?
RYUSURE: Uh, check again Mr. Perfect. One of the men who subdued Loughner was carrying. He said so on (uh-oh) Fox News! LOL.
TWITTERMANN: Carrying, did not draw weapon.
Because a man with a gun is 'unarmed' unless he draws the gun...and then magically he's all of a sudden armed! At least that's how it works on OlbyPlanet. And then there's this:
JAMES B: Remember the movie "Death of a President" glamorizing Bush's death? Pot, meet kettle.
TWITTERMANN: I was opposed to that at the time.
TWITTERMANN: Condemned that movie at the time of it's [sic] release.
Hmmm...maybe he condemned it to his barber, or to the last girlfriend to dump him, but there doesn't seem to be any record of it on msnbc:
Tonight, you can expect that the buffoon who described the last President as a 'fascist', 'idiot-in-chief', a 'war criminal', and (our favorite) 'psychotic' will lecture us again on why we have to watch our words. Hmm, he took a different, decidedly sarcastic tone regarding Ari Fleischer's call for rhetorical caution after 9/11:
OLBERMANN: Fleischer tells Maher to watch what he says, contributes to an environment in which ABC fired Maher from his show, warns Americans not to speak freely, that's OK.
Let's see: it's wrong to ask Americans not to speak freely. But now it's imperative that Americans be told not to speak freely because...well, don't try to make sense out of it. It's OlbyLogic.
On tonight's entirely civil Hour of Spin:
We need more gun control. One (D) Rep to agree, and...that's all you need, because there just aren't two sides to the story. Except of course for 'Geno' Washington, also there to agree.
Attack on Sarah Palin (R) for 'bullseye' imagery, but not Daily Kos, because there just aren't two sides to the story. Howard Not-So-Fineman.
Attack on 'the right'. Because there just aren't two sides etc etc.
What Obama should say, with lefty Alter and no one else, because there just aren't etc.
A Chance for Olbermann to Reject Hypocrisy: Quit Kos!
Submitted for your consideration, images from Keith Olbermann's blog. Look at what was posted at the Daily Kos just two years ago, when they targeted Rep Gabrielle Giffords for defeat:
Kos has scrubbed the incriminating images from its site, but that map above can still be found at its original source: the Democratic Leadership Council! The following was posted at the Daily Kos, Keith Olbermann's blog, just two days before Rep Giffords was shot:
Olbermann said this on Saturday:
Those commentators and the others must be repudiated by their viewers and listeners, by all politicians who would appear on their programs including President Obama and his planned interview with Fox on Super Bowl Sunday...
Imagine that. Edward R Olbermann using the tragedy of a mass murder to try and take Bill O'Reilly's Obama interview away from him. Krazy Keith has issues. Serious issues. And some big time Olbypocrisy. From Fox Haters Week in Review:
If Olby wants to be taken seriously, he should practice what he preaches. If Sarah Palin's target was as bad as Olbermann's endless invocations of it suggest, then let's see him take on the Daily Kos with the same vigor. To put it another way, the Kos target-bullseye imagery must be repudiated by all readers, and by all writers who would appear on their website--including Kos blogger Keith Olbermann. By his own standards, Olby must condemn Daily Kos and sever ties with them
Here's an opportunity for Keith Olbermann to show he's not just a posturing charlatan, to prove he takes his own words seriously enough to follow them himself. If he doesn't, he will merely confirm again what we already know: he's a hypocrite and a liar.
Gibson Nails Keith Olbermann for Constitution Comments!
Meanwhile, on tonight's Hour of Spin:
Olby reports on how 'Boehner's GOP' read the constitution aloud. Chortle about two members not sworn in. Left and Leftier (Geno and Maibbi) are the puppets.
Oralmann outrage over spirituality in the military.
Time to bash Goldman Sachs for buying part of Facebook. Hey Olbermahn, you had your chance to object to Goldman being bailed out and you missed it. Parrot: Robert Reiicccchhhhhh (D).
Discredited Dave will attack birthers.
MSNBC hires homeless man to do voiceovers.
Attack on O'Reilly for talk of tides and the Deity. This will clearly be a smear and distortion, as Mr Bill explained what he was talking about in Wednesday nite's email segment. But the truth never stops Krazy Keith from attacking his Olbsession.
FRIDAY UPDATE:
Emergency defense of health care overhaul, attack on GOP House with Ezra the K (the guy who's confused by that constitution thing) and lefty Thomas Frank.
Another attack on AZ Governor Brewer (R).
Attack on Glenn Beck with that historical authority Russell Simmons.
Attack on Boehner (R).
A thrilling Thurber thegment that will have you athleep fath-ter than Thominex.
SATURDAY UPDATE:
A special double-length Hour of Spin, featuring:
Olbermann declares Bush's use of a signing statement is 'giving the legislative branch' the 'finger' and constitute's the President 'ignoring the law'.
Olby and the Perfessor bash Bush for, yeah, you gussed it, signing statements.
That last one exposes even more Olbypocrisy, as the infamous deplorable one rails against ramming bills through a lame duck Congress, because it isn't 'bipartisan'. Hmm, he's been remarkably silent on that topic this year.
So, President Obama is again about to attach a signing statement to a bill (regarding Gitmo and terrorism provisions). Will Herr Olbermahn lay into him tonight as he did with Bush? Does Edward R Olbermann have even a miniscule shred of journalistic integrity? Does the sun rise in the west? We predict: this dog won't bark.
What you will get on tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Darrell Issa (R) with a Dem hack and Geno Robinson (another Dem hack).
Attack on GOP with a union boss.
Attack on the filibuster (remember when Olby was concerned about preserving the filibuster exactly as is?) with a partisan hack from Think Propaganda.
Attack on Glenn Beck.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
No barking dog yet? Tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Boehner (R), House GOP (R) with Bawney Fwank and Howard Not-So-Fineman.
A lesson in the constitution: it doesn't mean what it sez!
Attack on Jan Brewer (R) for murdering a transplant patient.
Attack on Kentucky for wanting to arrest 'undocumented immigrants' (OlbySpeak for illegal aliens).
An OlbyPlanet wet dream: all those people leaving the administration is a good thing! Obama unleashed! Yeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! (Yes, liar Howard Dean to appear.)
You Can Turn Off Radio Venezuela Now, The Infamous, Deplorable Olbermann Is Back!
A new year, a new Congress, but the same old Olby. The infamous, deplorable one will be back in the throne on OlbyPlanet, ready to dispense his own diseased brand of justice to anyone who is even slightly to the right of Karl Marx.
What does Herr Olbermahn have on tap for tonight? Here's a preview of Monday's Hour of Spin:
Republicans will crash the world economy by voting against increasing the debt ceiling (you know, like Obama did). Serving as parrots: lefty Ezra the K and leftier The Weiner (D).
Attack on Congressman Issa (R) with David 'Children of the' Corn.
Attack on Newt (R), Palin (R), and as many other (Rs) as Olby can smear in one segment.
Attack on everyone running for RNC Chairman (Rs).
Politics explained: conservatives have defective brains! To explain it all, disbarred lawyer and convicted felon: John Dean.
Olbermann Again Tweets False Info, This Time About Bill O'Reilly!
It was just last week when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann got into all sorts of hot water by tweeting false information about the rape accusations leveled at Julian Assange. He has yet to retract any of that, but hey, he's Keith Olbermann. He don't need no stinkin' retractions.
You'd think he might be humbled a bit by that experience, and maybe would think twice before cavalierly spreading something around the interwebs. But noooooo... especially if it concerns his all-consuming Olbsession, Mr Bill O'Reilly. Last night, Twittermann gleefully zapped this retweet out to his 168,000+ followers:
TWITTERMANN: Backstory? LOL RT @CityWineryNYC Bill O'Reilly just got bounced for stealing someone's seat at Aaron Neville.
Now of course, when a story like this has the Oralmann imprimatur, it must be true. And in no time at all, Fox haters and blue blog tweeters took their cue from Keithy and spread the story even further. These accomplices include:
@StopBeck (self explanatory)
@aterkel (Amada Terkel of Think Progress)
@DanaHoule (Democratic political activist)
@existentialfish (John Whitehouse)
@LibertyInProg (far-left progressive Media Matters mouthpiece)
@StopBeck (said it was 'so good had to tweet twice')
There are dozens more, but you get the idea. Without bothering to get the truth of the story, Edward R Olbermann wanted to believe it, so he assumed it was factual and retweeted it to his credulous followers. It's the Twitter equivalent of one of Olby's rip-'n'-read on-air smears. And yes, you guessed it...it's not true.
All it took was one email to get the actual story. Bill attended the event with Arthel Neville, and as she told us:
No one's seat was stolen. Bill, my husband and I sat in seats that were reserved for us. Merry Christmas!
The only thing that happened was that the party had been seated in the wrong place and moved to the correct reserved seats. That's it! Nobody was 'bounced' and nobody tried to 'steal' anyone's seat. So if you thought Olbermann learned his lesson about retweeting false information from his embarrassing Assange screw-up, think again. And if he didn't retract or correct those falsehoods, he's not likely to correct this one.
But then we've exposed dozens of his attacks on Fox as fabrications and lies, and he's never retracted a one of them. When it comes to attacking Fox News, Olbermann doesn't do retractions. Just ask Major Garrett.
As Outrage Grows Over Rape Falsehoods, Olbermann Heads for the Bathtub
It's vacation time for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Just in time for him to run away from any responsibility for the falsehoods he spread about the Assange rape accusations. And no, that hasn't died down at all. As Olbermahn today ended his self-exile for Twitter (after, what, two whole days?), he spewed out a grand announcement. And what did it do? It just made matters worse:
Given the time to compose a calm, reasoned response, Olbermann elected to use a single random tweet to tar the #MooreAndMe protest as violent, accuse its members of financial coercion, attack #MooreAndMe creator Sady Doyle for smoking cigarettes, and finally, to ignore the central issues in this brouhaha. Someone should gently suggest to Olbermann that when you're already in a hole, stop digging.
Olby got way up on his high horse and chose, out of thousands of tweets, one that he pointed to with sham outrage. The tweeter had told him: 'Kill yourself'. Oh the horrors, and Keithy poured it on thick. Why, now people are sending him 'death threats'!! But wait. Haven't we heard that somewhere before. Now let's see, where was it? Oh yeah...
Olbermann's antagonists, who asked not to be named, repeatedly claimed in their June 8 E-mails that dead Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Olbermann's "hero," prompting the television star to advise: "Hey, save the oxygen for somebody whose brain can use it. Kill yourself."
They just don't make Olbypocrisy any thicker than that. Keep track of the twitter action here, and enjoy a blessed break from the horrors of Olbermann for, we hope, two full weeks. Comments are open!
Olbermann Ridicule of Rape Charges Sparks All-Out Twitter War!
The tweets reported by Olbermann Watch yesterday, coupled with the infamous, deplorable one's inability to admit his own mistakes, has set the twitterverse on fire. A special hashtag (used to search twitter for a particular topic) has been created: #mooreandme. One of the irate defenders of rape victims couldn't take it any more and lashed out at Oralmann and his portly puppet:
The point is, Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore both work in what could loosely be construed as "news." Surely they understand that if they're caught spreading misinformation and not retracting it, and violating the journalistic standard of not reporting the names of accusers in an ongoing rape investigation, that makes them look irresponsible, unprofessional, willing to sacrifice known fact to opinion, and basically unqualified to hold the jobs they have. And that it also makes them look so deeply unethical and untrustworthy as to be useless, as authority figures who opine on ethics, morals, and who is or is not a "liar." So, you just have to point out the errors. They'll understand that they messed up. And they'll retract it. Right?
Number of Beloved Progressive Journalists Who Had Blocked Me On Twitter Yesterday: None, as far as I know!
Number of Beloved Progressive Journalists Who Have Blocked Me On Twitter Now: One. And it's Keith Olbermann.
Answer: Perhaps you would like to read the lengthy tantrum thrown by Keith Olbermann on Twitter last night, in which he demanded that one user "retract" (ha ha, Keith Olbermann! We love you when you're ironical! Oh no wait you're not -- oh God he's SERIOUS) a #MooreandMe tweet because it employed the term "rape apologism," demanded that another "show him the charges." Uum, Keith Olbermann, allow me to introduce you to... THE GUARDIAN???? They do a thing called "journalism" there, I think you'll find it kicky and fresh!
There's much more at the link for your reading pleasure. While all this was going on, action at the #mooreandme hashtag has been non-stop. Olby's weak argumentation became embarrassing as one tweeter after another decimated his slippery equivocations. Here is one of our favorite exchanges:
TWITTERMANN: Are you aware of my track record? Merely about women journalists at Msnbc?
Meanwhile the hits kept on coming, as Tommy Christopher sums up here, with Edward R Olbermann stubbornly refusing to even admit that he and Moore falsified accusations against Assange, not to mention dismissing them with chuckling ridicule. So what's an Olby to do? Why, quit twitter of course!
This shouldn't surprise anyone. Just like he can't stand people who disagree with him on Countdown, he doesn't want to put up with them on Twitter either. So rather than read opposing views that challenge his biases, he shuts down his Twitter account! Waaah, I'm taking my toys and go home. That will punish you people. You won't be able to read my brilliant words!
Needless to say, the Twitterverse wasn't exactly wailing in pain over Keithy's juvenile taking his ball and going home:
GRAYPETS: If @keitholbermann doesn't come back, Tucker Carlson will grab the Twitter account, too....
CRAIGCARROLL: Hey @CNN while you're investigating this "hoax", can you investigate who gives @KeithOlbermann his info? Prob same source.
WILDJOYRIDE: I get that you want to take rape seriously, but that means doing so even when politically inconvenient.
CUFFYP: "Have you no decency, Twitter? At long last, have you no decency? Good day, Twitter. Good. Day."
EXISTENTIALFISH: Ironically, these keitholbermann shenanigans read like something out of a thurber novel.
CHRISATYOURSIX: Radio silence from @KeithOlbermann. Maybe we should turn off his show like he turned us off?
JIMTREACHER: And to top off this very fine day, KeithOlbermann is having yet another Twitter meltdown. Life is good!
DOCFREERIDE: KeithOlbermann also, you know what kills people? you know what makes people AFRAID to report rape? LEAKING THEIR NAMES.
SHELBYKNOX: Wait for it: KeithOlbermann's mansplaining on his show tonight about how the dumb feminists forced him off the twitters.
Oh man, KO is getting KO'd. One fun thing that has come out of this brouhaha: a lovely collection of Keith Olbermann Meme badges:
Misogynist Olbermann and Misogynist Guest Ridicule Rape Charges!
What do you know? Olbermann and his guest dismiss charges of rape as just so much nonsense, and feminists are up in arms. Why should this be a surprise? The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann repeatedly fantasizes about women as objects of male violence, whether it's talk about taking Hillary Clinton into a room and beating her senseless, or a reference to a wife-batterer's wish-fulfillment vision of a woman as a 'mashed up bag of meat with lipstick'.
If you read Mr Christopher's article linked above you might think this was just a Countdown thing. No it's not. Twittermann has been pooh-poohing the Assange rape charges with the fervor of an aged perv scowling that 'she deserved it'. Rape? What rape? According to Olby, that just means 'sex without a condom'. Besides, as Oralmann will tell you, the accuser is probably lying because of her 'CIA ties'. And today's he's still spinning his conspiracy theories about questionable 'origin' of the accusations. Man, the real Olby reveals himself on Twitter, doesn't he?
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Oh no! The Senate folds on the tax deal. But wait, isn't the opposition growing, spreading, INCREASING?!? A lefty Congressman and the winner of the Maddow Look-Alike Contest will parrot OlbySpin.
Defend Assange? Any lefty can do that. Edward R Olbermann goes the extra mile and comes to the defense of BradAss the Leaker! No we are not making this up.
More attacks on Jan Brewer (R).
Attack on two Texas (Ds) who switched to (Rs). Heresy!!
Attack on the 'no labels' movement--purely a pretext to take an indirect shot at Joe Scarborough, another object of OlbyHatred.
After a week of propagandizing about the tax compromise, how opposition is increasing, SPREADING, and GROWING!!, Oralmann's fevered fantasies collided with reality today, as the Senate voted by a landslide to approve the deal. Adding to the angst on OlbyPlanet, a Judge has just declared the key element in Monkeymann's must-beloved nationalized health care to be unconstitutional. A double whammy, meaning that a double dose of spin will be required. To explain away the Senate vote, who better to invite on than the purveyor of that phony fauxlibuster that had Olbermoronn enthralled last week?
What? You mean opposition is not growing, increasing, SPREADING?!? How can this be? It must have been...a sell-out. Yeah, that's the ticket. The Senator who mounted a sham filibuster when it didn't mean anything, and did nothing when the cloture vote was actually imminent--Socialist Sanders--will deliver the OlbySpin. Along with Rachel Maddow look-alike Chris Hayes.
How evil is Wall Street? Reeeeaaaaallllly evil.
Oh noes, a Federal Judge has made a ruling on constitutionality that even Stevie Wonder could see coming a mile away. There's no joy on OlbyPlanet, so defrocked doctor (he should be if he hasn't been by now) "Scream" Dean will join Olby to discuss the legal issues. Ha! Fooled ya! They don't have a clue about the legal issues. Instead they'll use the old ad hominem (an Oralmann standby) and attack the Judge as corrupt!
Attack on House of Rep member (R).
Attack on Glenn Beck.
Juvenile, unfunny supposed-to-be-yucks with Frank Conniff.
On Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
Herr Olbermahn goes straight to the ultra-far-extreme left, out where the busses don't run. Yep, it's a return engagement from Michael Moore.
Oralmann wants to blame Moody's ratings on a tax deal that hasn't even passed yet, but that's OlbyLogic for ya. Robert Reiccccchhhhh (D) will serve as parrot.
Keithy and Geno are upset that a pork rail system in Ohio was 'killed by the tea party'. Call the waaaaambulance! Guess Fat Ass doesn't care about deficits.
Attack on Gov Brewer (R).
Attack on health care judge (again!).
Attack on Rupert Murdoch, by attacking his father!?! Wonder how Monkeymann would like it if someone smeared his father. Anyone got some dirt?
Wow, it's the huge, big, spectacular Socialist 'filibuster', proof that opposition to the tax compromise is increasing, SPREADING, GROWING!!!
Who to speak on the issue? How about (another) Dem Rep, who just coincidentally also opposes the deal?
Obama brings in Clinton (actually to counter-program against the Sanders stunt). What will Geno say about it?
Who better to defend Wikileaks and Julian Assange than...Daniel Ellsberg?!? Too bad Julius and Ethel Rosenberg aren't available.
From the grooveyard of golden oldies, another Cheney attack.
Another thrilling thpecial thegment of Thurber.
Twittermann is just having an Olbergasm over Bernie Sanders little turn at the Senate podium. He's bragging that he'll have a 15-minute highlight reel (sort of a flashback to his short-lived, little-loved time at ESPN). He's calling out ABC and CBS for not showing clips. It's like Sanders' soliloquy was some sort of historic milestone.
Earth to Olby: it was a stunt. A publicity stunt. It's not even a real filibuster, no matter how hard Monkeymann tries to make you think it was. There's no cloture vote coming up until next week. He could've stopped talking after five minutes and there still would've been no cloture vote coming up until next week.
Fat Ass will cite this PR extravaganza as more proof of the increasing, SPREADING opposition to the tax deal, which he will continue to spew about right up until Barack Obama puts his John Hancock on the bill Edward R Olbermann wants you to believe will never pass.
Failed Author Olbermann to Bash Palin Book Sales?!?
Here's what's coming up on tonight's Hour of Spin:
The Dems are in FULL REVOLT. The outrage is GROWING, INCREASING!!! To prove the case, Olby will bring on Bawney Fwank (D) and HuffPo Hack Howard.
To continue the notion that opposition is SPREADING, a union thug will grace OlbyPlanet.
More attacks on Jan Brewer (R).
Exclusive details on 'stunningly low sales figures' for Palin's new book!
What was that last one again? Palin's new book isn't selling, according to Edward R Olbermann? Last time we checked, Palin's latest tome is #31 on Amazon (and #4 in non-fiction), while the book that bears Olbermann's name has rocketed up the sales chart to...#3,213.
And then there's the NY Times Best Sellers list, where Palin's America by Heartdebuted at #2. In case you aren't familiar with that list, it's the one where Bill O'Reilly's latest book just enjoyed its 11th straight week in the top 15. It's also the list that the book that bears Olbermann's name never quite made it onto. So just what is 'stunningly low' about being the #2 hardcover nonfiction book in the USA?
Oh that's right, Oralmann has 'exclusive details' about the sales figures. Because the publisher leaked them straight to OlbyPlanet. Secret numbers that nobody else knows, that prove both Amazon and the NY Times wrong. We hope Monkeymann isn't going to revive that old canard about bulk sales being used to put a book on the NYT list. Because, you know, the NY Times notes when bulk sales are involved with a book on its list by marking it with a 'dagger'. And there ain't no dagger for Palin's book (or O'Reilly's for that matter).
So just how is Fat Ass going to prove Palin's book has 'stunningly low sales figures' when both Amazon and the NY Times say otherwise? Who cares? No matter how he does it, it's probably Another Olbermann Lie. And another reason why Countdown is must-miss television.
Olbermann Tries to Manufacture Anti-Tax-Deal Steamroller
Never mind that most sober-minded, clear-thinking analysts have concluded that the President's proposed deal, or something very close to it, will be enacted into law before the end of the year. The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has chosen to make this issue his latest Malmedy.
If you're new to OlbyWatch, this was a dishonest smear concoted by Oralmann about an O'Reilly mistake, ginned up to change the subject from his own embarrassing use of the Nazi Sieg Heil salute in public. Keith lied about the details, and then spent a week whipping up his viewers by telling them that "outrage" was "growing", "all over the nation", etc etc. Except that it wasn't. Other than Olby and his pet blue blogs, it was a big ho-hum. The story wasn't all but ignored by mainstream news sources like AP, Reuters, etc. After about a week that "growing outrage" vanished from OlbyPlanet--the steamroller never materialized, and Edward R Olbermahn turned his demagoguery in other directions.
Well now, we have the making of another Olbermahn campaign to manufacture a groundswell of opposition, this time to the tax-deal. Herr Olbermahn would like nothing better than to be seen as the leader who galvanized opposition and sunk the deal. So you'll find that to be a theme on tonight's Hour of Spin:
Only 12 Dem Senators support the tax deal! (Um, only 12 so far, Einstein.) Vermont's socialist, Bernie Sanders, and Geno Robinson will report on the blowback the Building To A CRESCENDO!!!!
The opposition is so strong, it could affect other votes too, because the Outrage Is GROWING!!!!
Of course, attack on a Rep or two (R of course).
Defending Julian Assange, hopefully this time without Olby citing an anti-Semitic holocaust-denier as his 'evidence'.
Olbermann Dressed Down by Bosses, Readies Another Special Comment!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann just can't help himself. Never mind that he famously stated that he doesn't go after people's children, he did just that with a petty WPitW segment on Palin daughter Bristol. And It apparently didn't sit well with the bosses at A-Mess-NBC:
Speaking of Olbermann, an MSNBC insider reports the talk-show host was "called on the carpet" by his bosses for declaring Bristol Palin "the worst person in the world" on his show last week -- calling it "tacky" and "a cheap shot that was uncalled for." Olbermann had criticized Palin for making an abstinence public service announcement -- given she has had a child out of wedlock.
Olbermann tacky? Cheap shot? That's like saying water's wet. But even after that dressing down, he still couldn't resist sniping at the eeevil Bristol, even from his 'sick' bed:
TWITTERMANN: Out sick, will spare you details. Instead: Reuters asks http://reut.rs/hRrLLH Who is writing BPalin's stuff?
MIKE SCHWANDT: Wow even when you are ill you show your obsession with the Palins. Perhaps you should see someone for this? Not healthy.
TWITTERMANN: I made one comment about BPalin. She has turned it into an obsession, not me.
Yeah, he's not obsessed. He just made one little twitter comment. That is, if you don't count all the others. Here's just a sample:
TWITTERMANN: Bristol Palin is contributing to teen pregnancies by this idiotic, never-works strategy of "abstinence."
TWITTERMANN: A Bristol Palin Abstinence PSA? Seriously? Because the first pregnancy doesn't count?
TWITTERMANN: "Bristol & Levi want full-season deal for reality show http://ow.ly/2e3bT" /via @peoplemag / they will quit halfway thru
TWITTERMANN: I criticized her for pushing a policy that doesn't work, and doing it hypocritically.
TWITTERMANN: she didn't write it; whoever did misused at least 1 word; she's still selling abstinence that doesn't WORK
TWITTERMANN: She went on "Dancing With The Stars" - she's now just another reality tv show contestant.
TWITTERMANN: And her continuing holier-than-thou abstinence nonsense will lead to unnecessary and unwanted pregnancies
TWITTERMANN: I criticized her hypocrisy. She keeps talking about it, presumably to lift herself out of Reality Show triviality.
Wow. And that's not even getting into all the Bristol bashing he's done on the air. But remember:
TWITTERMANN: I made one comment about BPalin. She has turned it into an obsession, not me.
Nope, he's not obsessed.
On tonight's Hour of Spin, an extra-special Special Education Comment. How dare that spineless Obama compromise with the eeevil Republicans? Keith Olbermann's going to throw the pamphlet at him! It's must-miss tv.
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann runs Countdown like Radio North Korea. In other words, the full spectrum of opinion: everything from A to B. As for the month of November, submitted for your approval, The Chart:
November Fun Facts:
The Democratic pol with the most visits: Anthony Weiner.
The most appearances by a lefty/progressive Olbermann parrot: a three way tie between David 'Children of the' Corn, Ezra 'The K' Klein, and winner of the Rachel Maddow Look-Alike Contest, Chris Hayes.
The most-used pundit categorized as 'independent' turns out to be HuffPo Hack Howard Not-So-Fineman, with Richard The Wolffe Man coming in second.
Don't even bother looking for Republican or conservative guests; as usual, they are barred from OlbyAir.
After a day of soaking, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has put away his rubber ducky, dried off, and has returned to the throne on OlbyPlanet.
Here are some of the delights he has in store for you tonight:
Nasty Republicans vote to raise taxes on the middle class because they only want the rich to get richer. Or something. Impartial experts: Anthony Weiner (D), HuffPo's Howard Not-So-Fineman.
Don't stop START. Lawrence Eagleburger turns to the dark side, which is the only reason sniveling Oralmann will let him in the studio.
Wikileaks and then leaks some more. Hey, let's talk indicting Bush and Cheney again! What a great topic for another episode of Olby and The Perfessor.
The NASA announcement that MSNBC skipped covering today.
And just for something completely new and different: attack on the Tea Party!
Friday's Hour of Spin:
GOP obstructionism! Horrors! Turncoat David Stockman will parrot Olby talking points.
Shot over Obama's bow not to compromise, w/ Geno Robinson.
Attack on John McCain (R).
Attack on Jan Brewer (R).
Attack on common sense, ratings, and overall maturity (it'th Thurber Fridayths).
It's tax cuts for millionaires! Oralmann explains why the more you're taxed, the better you'll like it. With renowned economics expert Ezra the K.
More of the above with lefty Heather McGee.
WikiLeaks, right up Olby's alley no doubt. Squishy ex-advisor to Colin Powell will spin.
Far-left Larry Korb returns again to attack Repubs.
Attack on Bristol Palin. Yes, on OlbyPlanet the children of the famous are fair game, as long as it's Olby who's doing the attacking. After all, it's not like he has any children of his own, or ever will.
Herr Olbermahn's cheap shots are so repellent that even his liberal friends are taking him to task. What line will he cross tonight? Here's a preview of Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
The Prez better not compromise on increasing taxes! The Great and Powerful Olb has spoken! And so will a (D) rep and HuffPo hack Howard Not-So-Fineman.
Riding the Don't Ask Don't Tell bandwagon again, with another sympathetic parrot
Attack on Gov Jan Brewer (R) for her 'death panels'! It's only a lie when Palin (R) sez it!
Secession? Treasonous! Constitutional authority Clarence Page will natter.
Attack on Michele Bachmann (R).
No Wednesday preview. Olby's been twitter-silent for almost 24 hours. Will he even appear tonight? Cross your fingers...
At least we won't have to put up with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann for five days. That alone is something to be thankful for.
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Olby continues to ride the TSA pat-down story. Who says he can't get behind stories from Fox News? A week behind, that is. An in-house 'expert' and at Atlantic talking head will try to bring relevance to Olby's late-to-the-party meanderings.
Attack on John Kyl (R) with far-left hack Lawrence Korb of the soros-funded CAP, though you can bet money Oralmann won't mention Soros and will instead describe Korb as a former Reagan assistant secretary of defense. That works every time; the dupes never question what the Great and Powerful Olb says.
The biggest ego on OlbyPlanet welcomes a return visit from the supersized idiot: Michael Moore.
Attacks on Glenn Beck (Fox) and Newt Gingrich (R).
Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
More Olby trying to be like Fox News by pounding the TSA story. Does Olby even fly? So he doesn't drive, he won't fly...what does he do? Oh that's right. The bestest baseball card collection on the block.
Expert advice on how to handle North Korea from a ex-official of the...Clinton administration! Because they did such a good job.
David Children of the Corn will rail against corporate profits. No justice, no peace!
Republicans want the credit card companies to screw you! You want proof? Oralmann will serve up Ezra the K.
Attack on Fox and the all-time #1 Olbsession, Mr Bill.
Attack on Jan Brewer (R) of Arizona. Looks like this is going to be another Olbsession. At least for this week anyhow.
Wednesday's Hour of Spin (let's face it, Oralmann's drivel isn't worth a new post):
No tax cuts for the rich!! A left Econ 101 perfessor will be Olby's human talking points, along with The Wolffe Man.
Attack on Sen Kyl (R); what a great topic for Discredited Dave.
TSA opt-out day flops, but Monkeymann will find a way to make something out of it.
Attack on Tom Delay (R).
Attack on Sarah Palin (R)...oh, sorry, make that Sister Sarah (R), because you know it just gets that much funnier the 89th time he says it.
Olby back after a 4-day long weekend with pay, Worst Persons reinstated right on schedule, so OlbyPlanet is back to abnormal. What's on the docket for tonight? Watching Bones. But if you're stuck with Oralmann, this is what you will be suffering through:
Attack on Republicans for not extending unemployment insurance out to 326 weeks. Olby will dig up an 'average citizen' to exploit.
To pile on: HuffPo hack Howard Not-So-Fineman.
More attacks on (R)s with a double-R: Robert Reiccccchhhhh.
Attack on John Boehner (R) with extremist Matt Taibbi.
Attack on Roger Ailes (Fox) for use of the term 'Nazi' (which is much much worse than doing a Nazi salute while holding up a Bill O'Reilly mask).
Friday's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Jan Brewer (R), with innocent victims of her evil ways and Maddow's little sister Chris.
Olby continues to run with TSA story days after the rest of the media was on to the story.
The Great and Powerful Mayor of London wants to arrest GW Bush (R). It's another fun episode of Olby and the Perfessor.
Ith another thuberb inthallment of Thurber thpecialties. Do not listen while driving a vehicle. (No danger for Keith there. He can't drive a car.)
The latest installment in Keith Olbermann's ongoing attempts to resuscitate his ratings comes tonight, as he is dragged, kicking and screaming, into reluctantly reinstating the Worst Persons in the World segment, the one he previously claimed he was suspending 'probably' for good. But as Olbermann Watch reported a week ago, the plan all along was to resurrect it. The 'viewer poll' was carefully positioned to give the results he wanted, and just yesterday we told you what the results would be before they were broadcast. If Oralmann's machinations were any more transparent they would be day-old Neutrogena.
We also told you yesterday that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann would lie about the Fox video he ran--and sure enough he did, claiming it was Fox reporters who didn't know they were being recorded. Simply a flat-out lie. Not only do the people in that clip know they are being recorded, and will be posted on the internet, but the program host Jon Scott tells viewers every week that they can see the commercial break discussions online. But never mind all of that. Herr Olbermahn would rather just lie about it.
What lies will Monkeymann tell tonight? You might get an idea from this:
What's Soros up to? He lost the election. Oh noes, don't tell us he might abandon Obama? Far-lefty Sam Stein to serve up the OlbyPlanet party line.
Another attack on Rep Harris (R) with another lefty OlbyParrot.
Attack on Michele Bachmann (R), attack on Steve King (R). EZra Klein delivers the talking points
Olby finally discovers TSA issue. That's right, he's now picking up stories Glenn Beck led with days ago.
And [roll of drums, sound of trumpets] The (Not Really) Worst Persons in the World. Whatever the hell that's supposed to be.
It's another must-miss edition of The Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Tonight's Olbermann Smear Debunked, Before It Even Airs!
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Oh look, there's GOP 'infighting'! (But never Dem infighting, at least not on OlbyPlanet!) It's Rep Weiner (D) and Discredited Dave to 'analyze'!
Prez/Congress relations, with a Soros-funded hack.
Attacks on all things (R) with Bill Maher.
Attacks on newly elected Rep (here's a shocker--he's an R).
Attack on Fox for attacking Sarah Palin (R)?!?
The most unmysterious reveal ever: gee, what did our WPitW poll say?
We might as well dismiss one of those things in advance, and see how badly Oralmann twists the facts. To quote him:
TWITTERMANN: Surprising outtakes as Fox Newsers TRASH @SarahPalinUSA
Let's see...
1. They're not outtakes, they're conversations that take place during a commercial break. Outtakes are parts of a show that are cut before it's broadcast.
B. Actually nobody in the clip is trashing Palin at all. They are quoting published reviews of Palin's Alaska special that appeared in the papers ahead of its premiere.
III. In fact, they couldn't have been trashing Palin's program, since at the time this discussion was taking place, it hadn't aired yet! The newspapers saw advance copies, the panelists didn't.
d. Just in case Monkeymann tries to suggest this is some sort of secret footage, or leaked video somebody 'revealed', the discussions during commercial breaks on Fox News Watch are posted every week. By Fox. On their own website. In this case, right here.
Yeah, Oralmann will have fun misrepresenting this one. But because you read Olbermann Watch, you have a heads up about his spin and lies.
Thurber? Who's Thurber? Olbermann Dumps Reading Segment for Bush Bash!
Oh yes, he had all those high-minded reasons for reading Thurber on Fridays, but for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann a chance to level new attacks on George Bush is like dangling catnip before Miss Precious Perfect.
So tonight, Thurber is out the window, and ridicule of an ex-President is in. The gory details:
Attack on Bush's (R) tax rates, with that paragon of American political insight, The Wolffe Man. And of course, Robert Reiccchhhh (D).
Attack on John McCain (R) using his wife as the pawn. Lt Dan Choi, who proclaimed he'd boycott MSNBC until Oralmann came back on the air, gets his reward tonight.
Attack on Glenn Beck (Fox) and Sarah Palin (R)...a twofer! Watch for David Bwock of Media Manipulations to appear in person this time (instead of just writing half the show). Bwock agreed to show up because Keith promised he'd provide the lotion.
Instead of thilly Thurber, we get Olbermahn ridiculing Bush's book, Decision Points. In case you are unfamiliar with it, it's the book that's #1 on Amazon, as compared with the book that bears Olbermann's name which has zoomed all the way up to...#1,069. No wonder Olbermoronn is upset. Expect dramatic readings, obligatory charges of plagiarism, and the usual OlbyPlanet detritus.
Video: Scarborough Distances Himself from Olby, as Keith Moves to Bring Back WPitW
First, poor Joe, doing his best to make sure everyone knows he's not a partisan political hack like the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann:
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Bush's (R) tax rates, with Stan Greenberg (D, of course) and the winner of the Rachel Maddow Look-Alike Contest, Chris Hayes (Democratic donor)
Attacks on DeMint (R) and Inhofe (R) with Geno Robinson
Keith slobbers over VoteVets lefty, who runs ads without disclosing who his contributors are. Olbypocrisy much?
Attack on Justice Alito, with a little impeachment talk thrown in?
Attack on Sarah Palin (R)
A special Oralmann viewer poll...
That last one is the beginning of the end for the Worst Persons 'suspension'. Oh please, Keith will implore, let me know if you think we should bring back Worst Persons. After all, it's been--what--less than two weeks since he did away with it?
News flash: that was another publicity stunt. A way to piggy-back on Jon Stewart's silly comedy show with some false high-toned 'responsibility'. Whoever had 'under a month' in the How-Long-Until-WPitW-Comes Back pool is looking pretty good now.
Report: Until 7:30 PM MSNBC Didn't Know Who Would Host Countdown
According to Jed Eckert, who has sources inside the halls of MSNBC, the spat with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann was not resolved until just minutes before broadcast:
The stand-off between Keith and MSNBC execs lasted much longer than anyone on the outside knew. As of 7:30pm on Tuesday night, bitter recriminations were still flying back and forth. Keith was still demanding that the network apologize to him before he would take the anchor chair.
MSNBC, on the other hand, made it clear that a refusal to host the show would result in an even longer, more serious suspension.
One source has told us that the network even had another host ready to go in case Olbie stormed off to his bathtub. Does anyone know where Thomas Roberts was last night? Because we're told he was in an MSNBC greenroom.
Eckert also ticks off some of the key indicators that suggest Oralmann and MSNBC may be heading for divorce court. Among these, Bathtub Boy's new agents (ICM) who are reportedly trying to convince CNN that an Hour of Spin would be just the tonic to revive their moribund ratings.
Make of it what you will, but remember things are rarely what they seem on OlbyPlanet.
Tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on debt reduction with big spender The Weiner (D) and Howard Not-So-Fineman
Attack on Republicans with Soros Monkey from CAP
Attack on Demint (R), McConnell (R), Imhofe (R), West (R), and any other (R)s Fat Ass can squeeze in w/ David "Children of the" Corn
Attack on Glenn Beck for speaking ill of Soros (whose name is the same backwards and forwards--try and claim that isn't sinister!)
Two lefty talking heads about newsmen and campaign donations--once again, Olby makes it all about 'me me me me me'
Even While on Suspension, Keith Olbermann Still Lying!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will return to the airwaves tonight, and at least in his own mind he returns as a victor. As Jeff Bercovici noted, when you get past all the flowery prose and pseudo-intellectual posturing of Keith's 'apology', it all translates to two words: 'I won'.
But maybe people aren't reading Oralmann's words closely enough. The detritus that Keith bangs out on his laptop has more to tell us than the fact that he's an egotist (like who didn't know that already?). Perusing his screed, there were several items that caught our eye.
I was suspended without a hearing...
Wow. Somehow that lack of a hearing didn't bother him when he was chortling over the firing of Juan Williams.
You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the public.
When would that be? He covered the entire election cycle, including election night himself, without mentioning his donations. When was he going to make this public? Next year? He only admitted the donations after he'd been caught, after a website had dug out the information for themselves.
You should know that I mistakenly violated an inconsistently applied rule - which I previously knew nothing about
No actual news organization would permit its people, even its commentators, to assume such purely partisan political fund-raising roles. This organization, rightly, would not even let me address an ordinary non-fund-raising gathering of some Democratic senators. Those are the news rules. And if Mr. Ailes does no honor them nor obey them, as he never has, he should be relieved of any news responsibilities, or his employer should admit that he is purely a political operative.
Wait just a second here. Keith claims that he isn't aware of NBC's rules, but just a few months ago he was quoting them chapter and verse to attack Roger Ailes? If you believe Herr Olbermahn, then we have some lovely oceanfront property in Colorado to sell you. Note also that Olby insists because Ailes broke the 'news rules' (i.e. NBC's rules), he should be 'relieved of any news responsibilities'. Does he still hold with that standard?
You should know that I mistakenly violated an inconsistently applied rule...
Inconsistently applied? That would mean there are others at MSNC who also made secret donations? So Keith is not the only person to donate to candidates without permission or disclosure to NBC? Who are the others? Name the names, in the interest of full disclosure. Hey Keith, are you protecting more secrets donors who just haven't been caught yet? Or is your claim merely Another Olbermann Lie?
We know that Keith is not the only person shilling for Democrats on A-Mess-NBC. While we wait for him to name the other secret donors he's protecting, how about someone explaining how an MSNBC host can get away with this?
The Broomfield Democrats invite you to the Carter Dinner. This is the largest annual fundraising event for the party and this year's keynote will be given by MSNBC's Ed Schultz!
How can this be? When he was attacking Fox Edward R Olbermann used this exact example of something NBC would never permit! And it seems they permitted it all along. Hey Olby, did Ed Schultz break the 'news rules'? Should he be immediately relieved of all duties at MSNBC?
And what an exciting event that Ed Schultz fundraiser must have been, given the huge spotlight focus shining directly on one of MSNBC's on-air hosts:
Keynote Speaker: ED SCHULTZ of the Ed Show nationally on MSNBC
Host Committee seating: $100
Host Committee reception includes hors d'oeuvre, cocktail, and opportunity to mingle with distinguished guests and Ed Schultz
That's delightful the way they phrase that: 'distinguished guests'...and Ed Schultz too.
Olbermann citing NBC rules to attack Fox, then claiming ignorance of NBC rules to make excuses for himself. Olbermann claiming that he's been singled out unfairly, while refusing to give any information whatsoever about the other alleged infringers. Does anyone over the age of ten really believe anything this serial liar says?
The fabrications, spin, and outright lies spewing forth from Olbypologists like Rachel Maddow have been stunning. If you haven't already, read the truth about the Phony 'Journalism' of Rachel Maddow. It will give you just the context you need for the following video. Then settle down for an excrutiating Hour of Spin.
On tonight's hour of spin:
ObamaVision defense of POTUS 'jihad' remarks w/Heather Hurlburt, rabid progressive and HuffPo hack
Attack on GW Bush (R) autobiography with--tada!--Michael Moore
Attack on Michelle Bachmann (R)
Attack on Rand Paul (R)
A huge, honking, interminable monologue of ego, self-puffery, onanism, hypocrisy, and outright lies. Yes, Edward R Olbermann addresses his suspension. Alert the media!
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday's election -- a potential violation of NBC ethics policies.
Whether Olbermann told his bosses about the donation before it happened will be key, but regardless, this act should evaporate any final appearance of objectivity by the MSNBC host.
And this is the guy, Olbermann, who was on Twitter yesterday blasting away at me because I was critical of MSNBC's outrageous behavior on election night....If management of NBC News won't step and say something about the kind of behavior that took place on MSNBC on election night, maybe it will now enforce one of the most basic standards of journalistic independence and not let Olbermann skate on this egregious violation of policy.
What will NBC do?
Fire Olbermann?
Suspend Olbermann w/o pay?
Let Keith take a few bathtub days?
Ignore the story and hope it goes away?
UPDATE! Mediaite: Keith Olbermann suspended indefinitely! Developing...
Day 4: Still No Correction, Still No Apology from Keith Olbermann for Lying
It was on Monday when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann smeared Brian Kilmeade, claiming Kilmeade said 'All Muslims are terrorists'. Of course Kilmeade said the exact opposite. Yet even though Edward R Olbermann had a chance to correct his smear and apologize on Wednesday's Hour of Spin, he did not do so. We are now at Day 4 of this ongoing lie, and Oralmann is sticking by his smear. Remember, this is the same Olby who famously stated:
I have never knowingly reported anything false and we correct our mistakes.
He corrects his mistakes? He doesn't even correct his lies! Where were the corrections and apologies for these slanders?
Olbermann lied that Scott Brown 'never disassociated himself' from a shouted statement.
Those are just a small sampling of the many uncorrected slanders spouted by Herr Olbermahn. They remain uncorrected because he has structured Countdown to insulate himself from anyone who might even raise an eyebrow at the worst Keith kalumnies. But don't take our word for it. Check out this statistically documented study. The bottom line:
"The O'Reilly Factor" welcomed 20 guests from the right, 11 from the left and seven who were neutral. Left and neutral voices combined almost equaled those from the right. "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" had 20 guests from the left, two neutral and not a single voice from the right. Zero voices of dissent.
So, if you never want to hear anyone challenge liberal views, lock in on Olbermann. While progressives disdain Fox's claim of being "fair and balanced," "The O'Reilly Factor" does present opposing views. O'Reilly will cut them off in midsentence, true, but he even does that to people who agree with him. (Shock therapy might help.) Olbermann seems unable to even listen to anything other than progressive orthodoxy.
If the tea party wants a "theocracy for white males," as he said, Olbermann could be an imam. He offered a paltry four women among his 22 talking heads, 18 percent. (Wasn't Joy Behar available?) Only two African Americans got face time. O'Reilly had three African Americans and scattered 18 women among his 38 guests, for 47 percent. (Don't expect NOW to give him an award.) O'Reilly had three Hispanic-surnamed guests; Olbermann had two.
When it comes to their sources of news, too many Americans live in "silos," protected from contrary views. We'd do better, learn a bit more, by listening to some opposing ideas. You get that from Fox's O'Reilly, not MSNBC's Olbermann.
You can expect more echo chamber 'journalism' tonight:
Attack on DeMint (R) with lefty Matt Taibi
Attack on tea party candidates with lefty David 'Children of the' Corn
Attack on Mitch McConnell (R) w/ HuffPo hack Howard Not-So-Fineman
Attack on George W Bush (R)
Attack on Sarah Palin (R) with washed-up ex-comedian Lewis Black
Keith Olbermann has been running loose on Twitter again. Oh my, hide your children, he's on another tear. About the dismal ratings of A-Mess-NBC's election night:
800 billion of you flies can't be wrong
Yes,once again, it shows 800 billion flies can't be wrong
800 billion flies are never wrong
It's almost like he was hypnotized, giving the same answer over and over. And are you ready for some ridicule? Here is Edward R Olbermann on Boehner's acceptance speech. Now if you should think that this must be a high school kid playing on his blackberry, we can assure you this is Oralmann himself:
You guys underperformed, blew the Senate, and your "Speaker" slurred and wept. Nice start!
You guys blew the Senate, Boehner came across like a buffoon, and you have to make hated cuts.
This just in: Speaker-Presumptive Boehner cried today remembering a day inn 1970 when he had trouble getting his car to start.
This Just In: Glenn Beck sues Speaker-Presumptive Boehner: "Crying? Quit working my side of the street!"
He cries at Supermarket openings. We're gonna have a lot of fun with him.
This Just In: Boehner drafts legislation to change Congressional leadership title to "Weeper Of The House."
You must have only watched Boehner's weep-a-thon.
This Just In: Weeper Of The House Boehner just remembered when his Moeller High FB team lost Coach Gerry Faust to Notre Dame; He cried.
replaced by the Weeper. "I lost (bluh-huh) my pencil (bhbhbhbhbh)!"
Are these the words of a grown man? Would a sane adult actually spend hours on such juvenile sniping? We know that there are certain aspects of Keith's psyche that show signs of what might be called arrested development. He's still trying to assemble the bestest baseball card collection on the block. He obsesses over a series of children's fantasy stories. And now this odd reversion to schoolyard inanities?
Make of all this what you will, but here's liberal critic David Zurawik, who summed up Oralmann's performance last night with pluperfect clarity:
I would not debase the word "anchor" by putting it in front of a desk that includes folks offering this kind of analysis.
I really would like to hear the folks who tell me MSNBC is a real news channel explain this kind of analysis. I can see Jon Stewart's speech has really made a difference at MSNBC.
With the journalistically debased performance on MSNBC last night, I rest my case. I do have to wonder how Olbermann, the cartoon, Bizarro-Planet version of Edward R. Murrow, will try to spin this.
Ouch! We suspect Herr Olbermahn is already regretting doing away with the Worst Person in the Worrrrrld. Because you know he's itching for some sort of payback against Mr Z. Will he sneak it in anyhow?
Watch: Keith Olbermann Smears Brian Kilmeade with a Lie!
While he was announcing his new-found quest for civility, and engaging in mutual onanism with Jonathan Alter about how you won't find MSNBC telling lies, smearing people, and misquoting them, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann does what? Reading from prepared text on his teleprompter, Edward R Olbermann smears Brian Kilmeade by lying about what Kilmeade said!
Hey Keith: When You Lie on Twitter, It's Still a Lie
Here is the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, sniping at someone who dared question the attitude of MSNBC hacks toward Gov Chris Christie:
TWITTERMANN: I have never even mentioned Gov. Christie on the air. I don't know what you're talking about. Nor do you.
Attn Olby: a lie is still a lie, even if you think it doesn't count because you said it on Twitter. You've never even mentioned Gov Christie on the air? Hey Keithy, permit us to introduce you to...your own words:
Apr 20, 2010: The bronze [WPiTW] goes to Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey.
Apr 23, 2010: Christie's staff is taking home 440,000 dollars more.
Aug 2, 2010: Governor Chris Christie now has another problem at the Jersey Shore.
Oct 12, 2010: Can you explain that briefly to Governor Christie who doesn't seem to get it?
Well, no wonder you thought you never mentioned Christie. After all, that last mention was all of three weeks ago! Apparently it's asking too much to expect renowned journalist Edward R Olbermann to tell the truth about his own words, even words way, way long ago in the deep, dark, distant past of...October.
Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!
Tonight on Countdown, Edward R Olbermann will explain why terror threats, coincidentally timed with an election, are a scheme by the government to keep themselves in power by stoking fear and...oh wait, never mind.
Olbermann Guest Caught Lying on the Air About Her Assault?
On Tuesday's Hour of Spin, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann talked to moveon.org operative Lauren Valle. She gave her version of the events, but today another video surfaced. And while there is no doubt that an assault took place, the new video raises serious questions about the veracity of moveon's operative. See for yourself:
Olby will be addressing the new video tonight, and maybe there's a clue here:
TWITTERMANN: Also tonight we'll show all known videos of the Lauren Valle headstomping incident & let you decide if new images materially contradict her
Is Oralmann going to argue that yeah, she lied, but that's OK because she was still assaulted? Watch the video and post your opinions about the incident and Herr Olbermahn right here. Comments are open!
Countdown: Eight Days to Election, Nine Days to the Bathtub!
You know the infamous, deplorable one will want to soak, soak, soak in that tub rather than come back to work the day after the election. Time will tell if, when that long, black limousine shows up at Casa Olbermann (because he can't drive a car himself), Krazy Keith will dry off and show up for work.
But he'll be there tonight, and that's bad enough:
Attack on Chamber of Commerce, with little Ezra.
Attack on Group that favors (R) candidates, with EJ Dionne.
Attack on Mitch McConnell (R), with Geno.
Attack on Rumsfeld (R).
Attack on Karl Rove (R).
A perfect record. Every attack on a Republican. Man, that's what makes Olbyplanet Olbyplanet. Comments are open!
Soros Gives $1 Million to Key Olbermann Blue Blog Source
Of course Edward R Olbermann doesn't come right out and say he takes his stories from Media Matters. But we know better; the archives have tracked hundreds of his hit pieces straight back to Brock's blue blog. So why is Ernst Stavro Soros suddenly coming out of the shadows? This will explain it:
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
Oh noes! The eeeevil Chamber of Commerce again, and they're linked to...a Retreat! Oooh, that's scaaaaaary.
Let's toss in Beck, Scalia, and a few more to the above, to make it a Guilt-By-Associationorama!
The Dems are surging! The Dems are surging! Who sez? Why, um, Bawney Fwank (D), who just had to loan his own campaign nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Tonight he'll be Olbermann's butt boy.
The evil Koch brothers; Matt Taibi will serve as parrot.
Attack on school books, with the guest expert somebody or other's mother.
Attack on Rush Limbaugh (R).
Attack on Mrs Clarence Thomas (R). Oh, and a reminder that Justice Thomas is a sex offender, or somthing.
Thursday's Hour of Spin:
Attack on the Chamber of Commerce, part 26.
Attack on Mark Kirk (R).
Attack on Karl Rove (R).
Commentary by a Think Propaganda hack plus HuffPo's Howard Not-So-Fineman.
Attack on Christine O'Donnell (R).
Special guest for a slobbering blue-dress interview: Nancy Pelosi (D).
Friday's Hour of Spin:
Damage control for Harry Reid (D).
Attack on the eevil Republican donors w/ New York Times hack.
Praise of union donors with AFSCME thug.
Attack on House candidate (R).
Attack on Beck (F).
Attack on Bachmann (R) (the above with David 'Canned' Corn).
The most boring 10 minutes in television. (i.e. Thurberzzzzzzzzz).
It's going to be another night of must-miss tv on A-Mess-NBC tonight. And of course the flagship broadcast for slovenly political hackery will be helmed by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. How many Republicans will he attack tonight? How many Dems will he slobber over and cover up for? Who at Fox will be the next victim of Oralmann's drooling venom? Your tip sheet for tonight's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Joe Miller (R); Olby's parrot will be a far-left partisan from Alaska's premier blue blog.
Defense of Dems: 9.6% unemployment proves the stimulus worked!
Attack on Bachmann (R): Ezra the K will probably weigh in here too.
Attack on Ashcroft (R), Bush (R), et al: another hilarious episode of Olby and the Perfessor.
Attack on Sharron Angle (R): a blue blogger from Nevada will be called in to serve as Olbermahn's human Xerox machine.
Attack on Brian Kilmeade (Fox): the apology isn't good enough, long enough, loud enough...what-freaking-ever.
Attack on Alan West (R).
Attack on Ann Coulter (R).
Attack on Bachmann (R). What, twice in one show? We'll see if this pans out, but it wouldn't be the first time for Edward R Olbermann.
The tally? At least eight attacks on (R)s, and we're going out on a limb and say there will be zero attacks on (D)s. Because this is OlbyPlanet.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Relax. Tonight you can watch NCIS, or O'Reilly, without wondering what crimes against journalism Olbermann is committing. Because Olby's in the tub tonight. In his place: ignoramus and serial liar Cenk (pronounced Chunk) Uygur. Now there's a powerful intellect, who will no doubt be committing his own journalistic sins. But who cares? It's still must-miss tv.
Keith Condemned Breitbart for Edited Video, Now Uses Edited Video to Attack O'Reilly!
The Olbypocrisy just doesn't come any thicker. Oh the self-righteous moralizing from Rev Olbermann about Breitbart's video of Shirley Sherrod--an accurate clip but one that was cut off before the full context of Sherrod's story had been included. Oralmann fumed: Sherrod was 'assassinated by that scum Breitbart!' Edward R Olbermann called Breitbart 'scum' no fewer than four times in one diatribe. All for a clip that ended too soon.
Fast forward to the present. Herr Olbermahn is cackling over Bill O'Reilly's appearance on The View, and he can't seem to resist doing so on twitter:
TWITTERMANN: Selling latest sh*t book, Billo the Clown stunned as View hosts walk off in protest at his hate speech towards Muslims http://bit.ly/cOcg0l
There was more: O'Reilly hates America, falafel [Ding!], loofah [Ding!], yada yada yada. But Oralmann was clearly enjoying the moment.
Now that little jumble of letters at the end of the tweet? That's a link to a video of the segment which you can check out here. If you do, you'll notice something peculiar. After Mr Bill talks about Muslims killing Americans on 9/11, Joy and Whoopi stage a theatrical walk-off. And--boom!--the video ends there. That's all Edward R Olbermann wanted you to see.
How very Breitbartian of him. He could chose any of hundreds of clips that ran longer and/or showed the entire segment. But then his groupies would have seen O'Reilly's response, his clarification of what he was talking about, his apology, and the return of the prodigal co-hosts. The conversation continued, and even went into a second segment.
Now if somebody says something, and just seconds later corrects themselves so they won't be misunderstood...um, isn't that called 'context'? Apparently it is for some people, but those rules don't apply to Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. He can direct his credulous lemmings to a video that neatly leaves out what happened just seconds afterward, removes the context just like the Breitbart video did, all to satisfy his anti-O'Reilly bloodlust.
C'mon, Olby. By your own standards, you are scum. Scum. Scum. SCUM! Said four times, just like you did to Breitbart--for doing what you just did.
Part of the incomprehensible 'Lean Forward' campaign is an ad allegedly showing the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann composing one of his Special Ed Comments. Of course right there a penalty flag could be flown, for pretending that Olby bangs these out himself--an insult to the highly paid Countdown writing staff. But take a look at this gem and see if you can spot something even more telling:
Edward R Olbermann bloviates 'now is the time to emancipate our culture' yada yada yada. Whatever the hell that means. But if you're scratching your head wondering where that came from, you are not alone. It's not from any Oralmann Special Comment. It doesn't turn up in any transcript of any episode of The Hour of Spin. It appears that the blustering idiocy of Keith's Special Ed Comments is so laughable and embarrassing that the writers had to concoct a fake Special Comment. Probably because hearing him yell 'You're a fascist, Mr Bush!' into the camera wouldn't mesh well with those tinkly piano notes.
But now the Daily Caller reveals that the first cut of this promo did use Olby's actual words, verbatim:
Yikes! What a diseased display of hateful misogny and unhinged personal attacks! No wonder they had to have their ad agency concoct an artificial, fake, untrue, Potemkin comment for these ads. The real thing would make viewers retch.
Wednesday's Hour of Spin:
Tripling down on the CoC smear, still with zero evidence of any foreign funds going into US elections. Think Propaganda lies will be reinforced with a TP hack and the winner of the Rachel Maddow Look-Alike Contest.
Grumbling over Obama's NY Times interview. Brit 'analyst' The Wolffe Man will explain US politics to ignoramus Keith.
Election Fear-Monger Segment: They're going to impeach Obama!! Only an Air America failure could possibly bolster such drivel.
Attack on Carl Paladino (R) with Discredited Dave.
Attack on Richard Lott (R) over the horrors of Nazi imagery.
Just in case you need a refresher course in Olbypocrisy, here's Oralmann:
Olbermann to Double Down on Discredited Think Propaganda Smear!
Nobody likes a good smear as much as the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. So he's hitching his star to a bit of slander against the Chamber of Commerce from Think Progress. Now don't take our word for it that this bit of propaganda is a sleazy hit-piece devoid of even a scintilla of evidence. The NY Times has proclaimed it to be dubious at best, and Dan Abrams's Mediaite agrees, Going a step further, liberal tv writer David Zurawik describes the charge as a new low in fear and slander. And now the nonpartisan factcheck.org blasts the Democrats for mounting a serious charge with no evidence to back it up.
Obviously, a political lie this reprehensible is catnip to Edward R Olbermann. So on tonight's Hour of Spin, he will bring in a flack from Think Propaganda to repeat it again--and no guest to give the opposing point of view. What else would one expect on OlbyPlanet?
Attack on Paladino (R), with a partisan hack from Talking Points Memo
Attack on the Chamber of Commerce, and probably Karl Rove (R) too, with another partisan hack a flagrant liar from Think Propaganda.
Attack on Richard Lott (R) with Geno Robinson. Maybe they'll call him a Nazi.
Noxious, irrelevant trivia about Google.
Attack on Ed Gillespie (R) and various other bits of OlbyDrivel.
Oh, and Oralmann in a penguin suit. Watch those buttons!
Maybe Keith Also Believes Orson Welles Directed Animal House
When it comes to pouncing on mistakes in spelling, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is the King of Twitter. Let anyone on his Enemies List make an error, and he's ready to pounce with unending drools of vitriol. You may recall when he bellowed that Bill O'Reilly is a "holy you-know-what liar", based on a rip 'n' read of a Media Matters attack. You see, O'Reilly had noted how he spoke up about the looting in Iraq after the city fell, and Oralmann said O'Reilly lied about that. He never said any such thing!
Of course, the truth was O'Reilly did in fact say precisely what he claimed, just not on the episode he cited but rather on the very next one. Being off by one episode was enough for Monkeymann to bellow about Bill being a 'liar'! (The OlbyWatch archives are replete with many more Krazy Keith examples.)
Fast forward to the present, where Edward R Olbermann is bloviating about the wondrousness of his weekly Thurber bore-o-rama. As part of his ruminations, he comes up with this gem:
If we run a movie clip, for instance, somebody from Mr. Spielberg's [office], will call and say, 'That will be $10,000 for the three seconds of Star Wars you just used.'
Um, Spielberg? Star Wars? Wasn't Star Wars done by George Lucas? Err, yes it was. Another embarrassing oops for Keith "Czechoslovakia" Olbermann. So an intrepid blogger posted a link to the article, and promoted it with the help of The Twitter:
Links: Parker/Spitz an instant ratings disaster. @KeithOlbermann thinks Spielberg did Star Wars. Rick Sanchez flashback http://bit.ly/cdPUYQ
Word got out to "Bear" and he didn't like his faux pas being tweeted to the world. Then came the wonderful, glorious moment when your humble correspondent found how easy it is to get Keith Olbermann's goat:
TWITTERMANN: How stupid is this Fox Poodle at Johnny Dollar? The mismatch was intentional, and got the appropriate laugh.
Bwaaahaaa! Sure it was. Why, confusing Spielberg with George Lucas is exactly the kind of uproarious bon mot that will elicit knee-slapping guffaws from all. It's a line that could win 'Last Comic Standing'.
And chickens have lips.
We know Oralmann is not one to correct errors, but this pathological need to concoct fantasy justifications for every little mistake, no matter how trivial, is another disturbing insight into the diseased psyche of Keith Olbermann.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: The Olbyloonsleap to Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann's defense:
Something tells me that @JohnnyDollar01 works for Fox News...
I wouldn't be surprised about @JohnnyDollar01 working for FNC at all-certainly humorless enough
But not to the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. He has nothing to do with the profession of journalism. He's a slovenly political hack, and the monthly tally of his political guests demonstrates yet again how, when it comes to one-sided agit-prop, Countdown is the Radio Havana Cuba of American television. Behold, The Chart:
Notes and Fun Facts:
For clarity, we have combined Dem Politicians and Dem Strategists into the single category of Dem Politicos
The most used parrot among the liberal/progressive guests was David Corn, with six visits. Ezra Klein and Paul Waldman (a Media Matters 'Senior Fellow'!) were tied for second.
(D) politicians invited to spin included Van Hollen, Wasserman-Schultz, Gutierrez, Weiner, Fattah.
(R) politicians who gave an opposing point of view included...well, nobody.
Of those guests categorized as 'neutral', the go-to guy was Howard Not-So-Fineman. He is now with the Huffington Post so he is neutral in name only. Discredited Dave (Weigel) came in second.
Don't expect anything to change on tonight's Hour of Spin. It looks to be just as 'fair and balanced' as September was. To wit:
Republicans are attacking the middle class. For a detached, honest, no-spin, non-partisan analysis, who better than winner of the Chris Hayes Look-Alike Contest? That's right...Rachel Maddow!
The afore-mentioned Dave Weigel parachutes in to participate in the next attack on Republicans (in this case, the nightly Sharron Angle smear).
Tea partiers want firemen to let people's houses go up in flames. No, we're not making that up. Oralmann will explain it all.
The nightly attack on Glenn Beck, natch.
And they wonder why everyone watches Mr Bill. Comments are open!
What (R)s Will Oralmann Attack Tonight? We Name Names!!
In case you're wondering why the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is on a steep trajectory to irrelevance, you have only to consider the Big Stories he will break on tonight's Hour of Spin. Examples:
The nightly Christine O'Donnell (R) attack: she said she attended a program at Oxford, but that's not an Oxford degree. But did she ever say that it was? Oh never mind, let's bring in a hack from Talking Points Memo to amplify the smear.
The obligatory Paladino (R) attack, complicated by the involvement of a News Corp journalist. What's an Olby to do?
Bonus attack: Meg Whitman (R), for lying, Lying, LYING!!! I tell you, about something or other.
Extra bonus attack: the tea party. They're violent. They're going to strangle you in your bed. They're coming! Keep watching the skies!!
And...it's Ezra Klein Whine Time.
Friday's Hour of Spin, the Keith "Man on Fan" Checklist:
More attacks on (R) candidates. Paladino? Check! Whitman? Check!
Left-wing puppetry? Geno Robinson? Check! White House spin? How about the deputy director of Obama's campaign? Check!
Rahm leaves, need a clueless parrot to 'analyze'. How about The Wolffe Man? Check!
Attack Christians? Check!
If Fox donates to the Chamber of Commerce, how to make that a smear? Call the Chamber a bunch of right-wing extremists? Check!
Cackle and do a juvenile dance on the grave of Rick Sanchez's career? Check!
Bore everyone over the age of 11 with an endleth reading of Thurber thlop? Check!
What Is The Event? It Ain't Olby, That's Fer Sure!
Oralmann getting canned and banned for life (a la ESPN) from (MS)NBC...that would be The Event worth seeing. But just another week of The Hour of Spin? Meh. Just as confusing, and even more boring, than that other 'Event'. Case in point, Monday's must-miss rundown:
The GOP Pledge...What? Olby's just getting around to it now? Is that how long it took for the blue blogs to give him enough material? Hey, since he's only been on dozens of times this year, let's untie Ezra Klein and prop him up before the camera again. And to make sure we have the ultimate in toadyism: Howard Not-So-Fineman, and a lefty partisan hack from Demos.
The nightly Christine O'Donnell attack. Not to be confused with Lawrence, who will no doubt be repeatedly plugged throughout the Hour of Excruciating Propaganda. Watch for a Soros-connection partisan hack on this one.
Nightly get-your-licks-in-on-Fox with a Chris Wallace attack.
Hard to believe, but something even more boring than Thurber. Ken Burns plugging some interminable baseball project. Who's that supposed to appeal to? Kids who read Harry Potter and collect baseball cards? Oh, wait. Yeah, that explains it.
Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
Attack on Sen DeMint (R) by a George Soros hack. And Olby of course.
Watch Edward R Olbermann slobber all over himself because the White House praised him and Maddow. Most journalists want to speak truth to power; Olbermann wants power to speak treacly love notes to him. David Corn Flakes too.
Oralmann goes after the eeevil Koch brothers, because they are going to burn up the planet into a cinder. Or something.
The nightly Christine O'Donnell attack is tonight a Sharron Angle attack. Or maybe he'll smear both of them. Anything is possible on OlbyPlanet.
Who cares? Probably no one, but here's a look at tonight's Hour of Spin:
Olby insists that we have a tax cut vote. But he's not alone. We've got Ezra Klein (again!) and Arianna 'Zsa Zsa' Huffington to play the part of the human echo chamber.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and Don't Watch. Plus Immigration crap.
Tonight's O'Donnell attack is a Sharron Angle attack.
Liz Cheney attack.
And the Friday favorite, um, Thurber...reading...with, uh...the conclusion...um...of...Thur...ber...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Why do we even bother previewing what will appear on The Hour of Spin? While the eeevil Bill O'Reilly will be going mano-a-mano with Jon Stewart, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will be hitting the same talking points, yammering with the same like-minded parrots, and insulting the same targets: anyone to the right of Bill Maher. So, keeping in mind this is just more same-old same-old, here's what to expect tonight:
Small business is evil. Why? Maybe lefty Ezra Klein can explain it. Regardless of what he says, Oralmann will be nodding in agreement like a unidirectional bobble head. Because that's the rule on OlbyPlanet.
Another opportunity to harp on gays in the military. We need more of em! As many as we can get!! God knows Olby himself isnt doing that well with the opposite sex. Dan Savage will prattle.
A combo attack, killing two birds with one stone: Sharron Angle and Fox News, they're both eeevil. You want proof? Olbermann will present his impartial expert from Hillary Clinton's Media Matters.
Despite attacks on McCain (R) and Angle (R), that's not enough for Monkeymann, so he'll go after Sen Chambliss (R) too. A trifecta of traducement (your word of the day). Toss in some sort of smear of Liz Cheney and you're all up-to-date.
For this people should miss the epic O'Reilly/Stewart showdown? Let alone NCIS? (Oh wait, NCIS was yesterday. Well watching it again would be preferable.) Comments are open!
Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
Oh the sorrows, the Dems postponed their tax-cut vote. Noward Not-So-Fineman will comfort Keithy, while the winner of the Rachel Maddow Look-Alike Contest (Chris Hayes) will pile on.
More attacks on small businesses for being too successful. To make a rather large point, the rather large Michael Moore.
The evils of buying, or selling, gold, with lots of Beck smears from the Weiner. (Go to weinerfacts.com for a good time.)
The usual (R) victims in the WPitW segment (aka the Media Matters Minute).
You know when the orders come down from the White House to jump, Keith Olbermann's response is 'how high?' And when it's time to ramp up attacks so partisan and one-sided that they put Radio North Korea to shame, Oralmann shifts into high gear. That's what you can expect to see on tonight's Hour of Spin.
Here's what to watch for:
Attack on O'Donnell: Not only is she a witch, she's a thief too! Watch for some infamous, deplorable song stylings (we are not making this up).
Attack on O'Donnell Part Deux: Mice with human brains? Let's go to the tape. (Note: for background on this story, read what Oralmann won't tell you.)
Take Tea and See how badly "Bear" and his new man-crush Weigel can smear.
Switching into ObamaVision, slobbering over the newsless 'town hall' and its pre-selected audience, with that savant of American politics who isn't even from America, The Wolffe Man.
Hat-tip to Maddow with some noodling about Don't Ask Don't Tell (that's the armed forces policy, not the rules given to Countdown bookers regarding conservatives).
WPitW will attack Jan Brewer (R) and America's Mayor (R). Continuing a long tradition of slovenly partisan hackery in the Media Matters Minute.
Oh, and don't be shocked if this video appears, or at least some of it. It may not. Call it a hunch:
Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
Republicans hate the troops! (It's a eulogy for the failed attempt to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell via the defense authorization, and it wasn't only Republicans who blocked it, but don't confuse "Bear" with facts). Watch for some ex-military type and David Corn Flakes.
Get rid of those 'tax cuts for the rich'! Who better to parrot OlbySpin than Howard Not-So-Fineman, now out of the closet as a writer for the Huff 'n' Puff Post?
The obligatory, nightly Christine O'Donnell attack: she's a criminal! Could 'American Prospect' possibly be another far-left, Soros-type organization? You'd think so, because Oralmann invited them for this segment.
The eeevil insurance companies want your children to get sick and die!
How about a book plug? As if Keith's tome is going to do anywhere near as well as O'Reilly's, but he'll keep priming the pump anyhow.
Before we all settle down for another evening on OlbyPlanet (thankfully without the inane ramblings of Thurber), let's take a moment to gaze in admiration at the keen intellect of Edward R Olbermann. But how to gauge something so wondrous and beyond the comprehension of mere mortals? We'll just have to use Olby's own test, the one he uses to rate the intellect of others. As you may recall, the infamous, deplorable one got into a twitter fight (that even sounds girly!) and immediately turned to his Ultimate Weapon, correcting grammar and spelling:
SHRIKE: @KeithOlbermann The left is idrological kindergarten. That's why you guys believe in Santa.
TWITTERMANN: Ah yes. It's always "idrological"
SHRIKE: As I said: kindergarten. If the best you guys have is typo flames, it's no wonder @KeithOlbermann is in decline.
TWITTERMANN: 2,000,000 a night. How many you got?
BELLAMOM: I love you Keith but picking on spelling errors is beneath you - there r other aspects of that comment u could play off
TWITTERMANN: but they're representative of the level of intellect. This isn't speaking, you do get to review all 140 chars. before hitting send
Got that? OK, so now it's your turn to measure the Olby intellect by his own standards. This is from just yesterday:
TWITTERMANN: You should get a grown's up hat before throwing around "failed"
Huh? What's that? A hat belonging to a Mr Grown? Wrong! It's proof of Oralmann's level of intellect. After all this isn't speaking, you do get to review all 140 chars. before hitting send!
On tonight's Hour of Spin:
New O'Donnell talking point: her win is no big deal because look at all those registered Republicans who didn't vote. The discredited Dave Weigel and (D) hack Chris Kofinis will aid and abet Monkeymann's spin.
Rove and Palin disagree, so that means Democrats will win in November!
Those tax cuts everyone's debating? They're not Bush's, they're Obama's! Lefty Ezra Klein will play Pinocchio.
Tea Party will fail, sez Arshad Hasan (who?!?) from Democracy for America, a nonpartisan outfit that was kick-started with a quarter-mil from George Soros.
Why was the Koran burner fired? Theory: "Bear" will take a counter-intuitive position on this, to show his 'independence' and 'intellect'. Intellect? Oh wait, maybe that isn't the right word.
And Thursday's Hour of Spin:
Obama wants to plug his 'immigration reform', and Oralmann leaps to coordinate with the administration. One Rep (D) and a La Raza type will reinforce the propaganda.
Nightly attack on Christine O'Donnell, this time with Howard Not-So-Fineman Olby's accessory after the fact.
Monkeymann has been neglecting Rand Paul, but watching his poll numbers. So it's time to serve as the DNC's slovenly political hack once again.
Olby will actually make fun of someone else's research (i.e. Limbaugh, for using Wikipedia). Perhaps he will lecture Rush on why he should only rip 'n' read from Media Matters and think Propaganda.
Oh, and he of the Great Intellect can't resist an attack on Glenn Beck, so watch for one of those too.
It's not even worth a new post for the sewage Herr Olbermahn plays to vomit tonight. So here's the lowdown on Friday's Hour of Spin:
Tonight's attack on Christine O'Donnell (obligatory).
That will morph into a wholesale attack on tea party, Michele Bachmann et al, with accomplices Ken Vogel of Politico, and...and who? Oh wait, it's been all of two days since Discredted Dave (Weigel) has been visited OlbyPlanet. Let's recycle him!
Attack Huckabee for saying he made a comparison when he actually made an analogy. (Classic OlbyTrick.) Lefty David Corn will be happy to play Howdy to Keith's Doody.
The most interminable 10 minutes in all of television, it's Olby doing his dramatic readings of Thurber. Truly mutht-miss.
Oh, and lest we forget, the nightly attack on Fox (their punishment for crushing Olby every night in the ratings). In case you haven't heard it before, Fox News is...all together now...RAAAAACIST!
It must be galling to the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann that his hated nemesis, the Fox News Channel, actually attracts more Democrat viewers than either CNN or MSNBC. That's the kind of fun fact that just inflames Oralmann's insistence on inflicting another week of hate, venom, and aggravated misinformation on the American public. Fortunately most of them won't sit through it, but in case you will, this is the place to discuss the Orange Man and his nightly assaults on journalism.
What can we expect tonight? Well, Edward R Olbermann has another 'fair and balanced' line-up of topics and guests, as you might well imagine. Some highlights:
Attack on John Boehner (coordinated with White House of course)
New talking point: the deficit is down (yeah, the 2nd highest ever after last year's 1st highest ever)
Fair and balanced economic analysis from Robert Reiccccchhhh and David Plouffe (aka Obama's campaign manager...hey we told you this stuff is coordinated)
Attack on Newt Gingrich, with race-baiter Geno Robinson
Attack on Christine O'Donnell, who just moved ahead of Castle in the polls (thereby explaining tonight's attack)
Shocking new news that is just shocking: there was a mosque in the World Trade Center before it was hit...and the point of that is, what? Don't try to make sense out of it, it's OlbyLogic!
Tuesday's Hour of Spin:
An impartial look at the tax cut debate with a House Democrat
A Democrat pollster with an impartial look at the tax cut debate
Breaking OlbyPlanet Talking Point: The GOP is racist!
More Christine O'Donnell attacks with lefty Chris Hayes and Howard Not-So-Fineman
Another House Democrat! (The next chart is going to be a doozy!)
Attack on Fox Business because an opinion show offers opinion (lifted from a familiar blue blog source: Think Propaganda)
At least we had an Olby-free Labor Day. But the infamous, deplorable one is back tonight, and with an Hour of Spin that will go down in history as...just like every other Hour of Spin. What you can expect tonight:
Hyperventilating over burning the Koran (Or: Why burning a flag is protected free speech, but burning a Koran is a scandal?)
The Gallup Poll is now tied! Now Olby can stop ignoring it, until it shows the GOP ahead again, when it will vanish from OlbyPlanet.
Rahm's rumored removal from the House of Obama.
A HuffPo hack will harangue about the tea party.
Slanders against Arizona's governor, who will still be Arizona's governor this time next year.
The obligatory attack on Fox/Murdoch/Whatever for the crime of distributing...a video game? No, you're kidding, right? An Olby attack over a video game?!?!?
It's your nightly must-miss tv. Comments are open!
Our monthly analysis of Edward R Olbermann's fair and balanced guest line-up once again shows what an outstanding, nonpartisan 'news hour' they produce on OlbyPlanet. Behold, The Chart:
This month's fun facts:
The most appearances under the liberal/progressive label: Eugene Robinson, followed closely by Melissa Harris-Lacewell.
Most appearances under the conservative/traditional label: nobody.
Top Dem politicos (each appearing twice): Reps Grijalva and Ellison.
Top GOP politicos: there weren't any.
Most used 'neutral' commentator: Howard Fineman.
So welcome to Olbermann's Echo Chamber, where the only debate is left vs lefter. Perhaps that's why his ratings are so good. He pooh-poohed July's numbers based on the fact that he took so many days off. So what happened in August? While a few A-Mess-NBC programs showed a little growth, Herr Olbermahn's was not one of them. Just like his pal Rachel Maddow, Keith Oralmann lost 25% of his viewers in the critical, coveted, nothing-else-matters 'key demo'. And since they were both losing handily to the eeevil Fox News, they're still losing handily to the eeevil Fox News.
There is no joy on OlbyPlanet. Mighty Olby has struck out. Comments are open!
Oh they don't allow their talent to insult each other over at (MS)NBC, do they? Perhaps they should remind the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann of that policy. As Glenn Beck's rally concluded Saturday, Oralmann was furiously tweeting away. First he bizarrely claimed that the rally was not apolitical:
TWITTERMANN: Glad y'all kept it nonpolitical. Except for the who-to-vote-for part.
There was a part of the rally where they were endorsing candidates and telling people whom to vote for ['who to vote for' is improper grammar, according to Olby a sign of low intellect]? Um, to put it simply, there was no such thing at the 8/28 event; it's Another Olbermann Lie. Then Olby went further off the deep end. He seemed almost pathologically invested in 'proving' that there were fewer than 100,000 people present.
Unfortunately for him, his own network didn't agree:
CHUCK TODD: Colleague @DomenicoNBC is on the mall, reports crowd estimate from Parks service is 300K-325K.
When someone pointed out to Oralmann that NBC estimate, Krazy Keith decided this will not stand on OlbyPlanet:
TWITTERMANN: Wrong! NBC quoted no number. Parks Service stopped making estimates in 1997. You've been lied to.
Actually, the Park Service estimated the Obama inauguration crowd, so "Bear" isn't telling the truth about that. And as for the idea that Chuck Todd lied in his report, then Brian Williams did too. Williams referenced the 300,000 number, and said it was an NBC News estimate! Hear for yourself via John Gibson:
Keith lies on top of lies, then claims it's Chuck Todd and Brian Williams who are the liars?!? Crazy Larry hosts tonight, but the infamous, deplorable one will have a special report on the 'Beckapocalypse'. Ooooh, that's must-miss teevee! Comments are open!
Anti-Hispanic Bigotry, Or Just More Olbermann Hate?
We often hear about Keith Olbermann's rampaging misogny, but we should not forget his pattern of demeaning and insulting Latino Americans. It's part of the very fiber of Krazy Keith's being, and it resurfaces every now and then. Here are a few examples:
He repeatedly referred to George Bush's Hispanic Attorney General as a "house boy".
His "pass the guacamole" description regarding Gov Bill Richardson was deemed offensive by Latino activists.
That last smear of Mr Pujols (which to this day Olby has never apologized for) is particularly relevant. Because it has been revealed that Albert Pujols will be attending the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" rally. Horrors! Needless to say, that meant "Bear" had to immediately tweet his disapproval with yet another attack on Pujols, and merely the latest example of Olby anti-Latino invective:
Hey Albert Pujols! Here's hoping when you go to Beckapocalypse nobody attempts an AZ SB1070 Papers-Please citizen's arrest on you.
Of course if Pujols WAS Papers-Please'd at Beckoning, LaRussa's with him, is a lawyer. Or would he defend the arrester?
He goes on to suggest that Pujols (and La Russa) are "simpletons". Which is ironic because Pujols never did a rip 'n' read of a phony blog story and use it to smear Keithy--but that's exactly what Oralmann did to Pujols. And has let it stand for years (even repeating the slander) without bothering to make things right with the simplest gesture imaginable: an apology.
But apologies are scarce as hens' teeth on OlbyPlanet. Especially, it seems, when Keith Olbermann's victim is Hispanic.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Is Olby cracking up? Behold one of tonight's tweets:
Oh wait, it's the weekend. See, it makes perfect sense. Bathtub Boy is in the tub again.
MSNBC Conflatorama! Maddow, Schultz, and Olbermann
It's really amazing how they all use the same technique. John Gibson sez it's almost like they were part of an 'Obamamedia'. Listen for a special appearance from Oralmann's one-time teenage heartthrob, who has now moved on to greener pastures:
Just when you think the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann can't possibly get any more hypocritical than he already is, he does the impossible: he surpasses himself. Is there anyone as smugly self-righteous? Remember when he ridiculed McCain for referring to 'Czechoslovakia', cackling how stupid that was since there is no longer any such country? Only Edward R Olbermann had done the same thing, over and over again. Yeah, Olbypocrisy. And it continues.
It was just a few months ago that Oralmann was attacking Glenn Beck for having 'Nazi tourettes', with one of the examples being Beck's use of the 'First they came for..." poem. So what does Krazy Keith use to kick off his latest Special Education Komment? You guessed it:
They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up...
When it comes to 'Nazi Tourettes', Olby is no slouch. Who doesn't remember that charming moment when Oralmann compared Dan Abrams's father to a Nazi? Whether it's comparing the Bush administration to The Third Reich or saying Fox News is like Nazi Germany, Krazy Keith just can't resist slapping the Nazi label on anyone that's on his enemies list, even if it means trivializing the Holocaust. [BTW, there's an excellent breakdown of KO's SEK here.]
The inevitability of Monkeymann stepping in it is what makes his Twitter account such fertile ground for Olbypocrisy. Here's an exchange where KO pulls one of his favorite Twitter stunts: correcting someone else's spelling. This is the real Olbermann on display:
SHRIKE: @KeithOlbermann The left is idrological kindergarten. That's why you guys believe in Santa.
TWITTERMANN: Ah yes. It's always "idrological"
SHRIKE: As I said: kindergarten. If the best you guys have is typo flames, it's no wonder @KeithOlbermann is in decline.
TWITTERMANN: 2,000,000 a night. How many you got?
Yes, this is certainly the high plane of discourse we expect from the cow-school graduate. And isn't that two million figure a little suspect? According to the latest ratings, combining Edward R Olbermann's 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm showings only amounts to 1,529,000 viewers. But we digress. Back to the tweets, where things take a different turn:
BELLAMOM: I love you Keith but picking on spelling errors is beneath you - there r other aspects of that comment u could play off
TWITTERMANN: but they're representative of the level of intellect. This isn't speaking, you do get to review all 140 chars. before hitting send
Got that? Misspelling = no intellect. Here's what Olby tweeted a few hours before this exchange:
TWITTERMANN: And then they add "but they must be stopped! And they won Obama the election!" Fox = Emporer's New Clothes
Emporer? Emporer?!? That's some intellect you have there, Fat Ass.
Didn't we just have one of these last week? Never mind, the free world cannot survive without the deep thoughts of ex-CNNer, ex-FSNer, ex-ESPNer, ex-NBC-Footballer Keith Olbermann. Olby, who is an 'ex' in more ways than one, is pretty easy to predict on these things. We'll take a stab in the dark on what to expect this time:
Blame Fox News
Attack Sarah Palin
Get Sharron Angle in there somehow
Attack Fox News
Lots of camera pivots
Smear Newt Gingrich
Cry racism
If anyone realizes Islam is not a race, cry religionism
Go after Fox News
Meaningful pauses
Invoke tolerance
Insist the building isn't at Ground Zero, even though it was hit in the attacks
Get Palin again
Oh, and Blame Fox News
It's another night of must-miss tv. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Listen to tonight's Special Education Komment without having to put up with Olby histrionics. Courtesy of MikeC, here's the SEK delivered by the OlbyRobot.
After the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann sunk to a smear of Bill O'Reilly's deceased father, we saw just what rules Oralmann plays by. Tony Soprano may have insisted that families are off limits, but on OlbyPlanet it's perfectly acceptable for KO to enhance his personal attacks of O'Reilly by dragging in Mr Bill's dad.
That's why we asked people who had knowledge of Olby's dad to email us with information. If O'Reilly's father is considered so probative in a smear of Mr Bill, then clearly the Ted Olbermann story must have much to tell us about Edward R Olbermann. And we've received some fascinating emails in just the past 24 hours.
That's why tonight we turn to the record of misogynistic behavior that has followed Keith Olbermann around for much of his professional life. A few examples:
Calling his co-worker Rita Cosby 'dumber than a suitcase of rocks'
Describing Michelle Malkin as a 'mashed up bag of meat with lipstick'
These of course are just the tip of the iceberg. It all causes us to wonder, just what turned Keith Olbermann into someone who delights in degrading women? Was he born that way? Or were these attitudes carefully taught? What of Theodore Olbermann? Did his behavior or attitudes play a role in Keith Olbermann becoming the He-Man Women Hater of today? Email your information; as before, your confidentiality is assured.
It's another night of must-miss television from the infamous deplorable one. What to expect:
Attack on Gingrich etc with Howard Not-So-Fineman
Emotionalism over BP oil spill with Perfessor Harris-Lacewell
Waving the 'anchor baby' bloody shirt
Smears of Rand Paul
This will be more Oralmann sound and fury signifying nothing. But perhaps he will bring us something Emmy-worthy. Maybe tonight he'll go beyond his sick attack on Bill O'Reilly's deceased father, and launch into smears of other family members. What should we expect? The lowdown on O'Reilly's maternal grandmother? Some ugly name calling at Mr Bill's children? How in the world will Edward R Olbermann top his most repellent smear so far?
Watch Monkeymann's empty calories if you like, but give some thought to this question. Now that Keith has changed the game, and it's now perfectly acceptable for him to smear Bill O'Reilly's deceased father, what exactly should we say about Theodore Olbermann? Does anyone know the real lowdown on this man, or how he could raise a person like Keith Olbermann? Email your information; confidentiality is assured.
Must-Miss TV: Another Olby Special Education Comment
This time he's going to rail at Robert Gibbs for daring to criticize the 'professional left'. Oralmann doesn't like it when his people get criticized by anyone. To help him make his case, he will also interview the erudite political analyst and respected economist...Michael Moore.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Listen to tonight's Special Education Komment without having to put up with Olby histrionics. Here's the SEK delivered by the OlbyRobot
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann cannot take criticism...let alone rejection. Now that NBC has kicked him off Sunday Night football, he's retreated into a Cone of Silence. It must have been doubly embarrassing when the staff was told of Oralmann's firing, and they celebrated by going to a Yankees game!
No new posts at the bestest baseball blog in the whole world, And Keith the prolific tweeter also went silent about 24 hours ago, shortly after the bad news broke. We know his ego is crushed, but Edward R Olbermann should be used to that by now.
Well he convinced himself to deign to appear on A-Mess-NBC tonight. But he doesn't have to respond to anyone there, or face comments about his humiliating exile from football coverage. So he retreats from the interwebs, puts up cyberwalls, holds his hands over his ears, and screams. As he steps into the cyber-bathtub. Listen closely and you can almost hear the bath water bubbling.
Twitter is getting to be a delightful source of Olby humiliation. The latest gem came when he attacked CNN for leading a news hour with a shooting, rather than the all-important gay marriage story:
I happen to like Rick Sanchez, I worked with him. But how CNN could begin with the Connecticut shooting, bad as it was, is inexplicable.
Meanwhile, a short distance away in the very same building, the NBC Nightly News, the flagship news program of Olbermann's employers, led with...the Connecticut shooting!
Whoops. Pretty inexplicable, huh Keith?
Tonight another hour of must-miss tv. You can expect:
Our monthly scan of the MSNBC transcripts turned out just like all the previous ones. Well, not exactly. There was, for the first time in years, a 'conservative' appearing in the count. But there's a catch. Behold, the chart:
Hey, how did one 'conservative' guest find his way onto OlbyPlanet? Well, it wasn't exactly OlbyPlanet. Two weeks of the month found Herr Olbermahn on his staycation, and "Crazy" Larry O'Donnell was the host. On one program, Larry generously allowed a conservative to appear. That was David Frum, who was there to criticize Andrew Breitbart. Ah, that explains it.
More interesting factoids from the July showings of The Hour of Spin:
Barney Frank (D) and Ed Markey (D) got special treatment, each showing up twice!
The most-used pundits classified as 'neutral' (and hence not included in the chart) were The Wolffe Man and David Weigel.
The most-seen liberal/progressive was Huffington Post's Bob Cavnar.
Keep an eye on Alex Wagner. She came in second to Cavnar and was presented as a 'Washington correspondent' (thereby hiding the fact that she hails from the Center for American Progress).
Get set for another month of propaganda that's a pure precis of the progressive party line. Comments are open!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann may be on staycation, but there are others at A-Mess-NBC ready to pick up the slack. Case in point: Big Ed Schultz, who yesterday hosted Howard Dean. Dean was fresh off an embarrassing turn on Fox News Sunday, where he had stammered incoherently as Chris Wallace confronted him with a hard fact: Shirley Sherrod was fired long before Fox News Channel had aired the Breitbart video or even mentioned her name.
But that didn't stop Dr Dean, who yesterday doubled down on dishonesty with a flat-out lie:
HOWARD DEAN: I happen to like Chris Wallace, but he was really not being exactly accurate when he talked about 'we didn't say one word about this before the Secretary of Agriculture fired her'. The fact of the matter is they were pushing this story very very hard all day. It may be true that they didn't mention her name, but they sure did run the tape without mentioning her name, and they cranked up this story...
No they didn't, Howard. That's not a matter of opinion; it's a hard, stubborn fact. Needless to say, bellowing doofus Ed Schultz didn't correct Dean, and let the lie stand.
What now, MSNBC? They lurrrve to attack Fox News, but here it's their own prestige at stake. Will they insist that Big Ed correct the record today? Or will they let Howard Dean's falsehoods stand, and show again that A-Mess-NBC is little more than a sleazy cadre of flagrant liars?
As the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann enters week two of his vacation, matters still swirl all around him. It has been revealed that his buddies on the Jouno-List don't hold him in very high regard, tossing around such words as 'pompous' and 'misogynistic'. Of course Keith's antipathy and lack of respect for women is well known, and we're not just talking about using them for his "relief" and then dumping them with nothing more than a half-empty bottle of Merlot and an used necktie. For a quick recap of Oralmann's misogyny just check out these examples.
Meanwhile, Krazy Keith has been busy mastering The Twitter. Which is always run to read, because there are often flashes of The Real Olbermann to be seen. Remember when Olby told an emailer:
By the way, with my new contract I could buy and sell you. Then again, I could probably have done that when I made $8500 a year in 1979.
I get paid a lotta money, Dude. We make a lotta money, Pal. We're covered on that front. How much YOU make?
Very classy. And so deeply intellectual. Because the more money you make, the smarter you are, the better you are. Hmm. I wonder who makes more: Keith Olbermann or Rupert Murdoch? But never mind. How about reprising an old favorite with a new target. Edward R Olbermann once declared:
Fox News is worse than Al Qaeda--worse for our society. It's as dangerous as the Ku Klux Klan ever was.
Well now there's someone else Fat Ass is comparing to the KKK:
ah yes, the Klan. Formed by those who refused to accept the government or blacks in power. In other words, The Tea Party
Why do any original thinking when you can just recycle and repurpose the manic smears of yesteryear? That's OlbyPlanet. The smears are tired, old, and tattered from excessive re-use. Only the targets vary to satisfy the diseased overcompensating psyche of Keith Olbermann.
Olbermann Can't Resist, Interrupts 'Vacation' for Special Education Komment
Yep, here it comes:
Tonight on Countdown, my Special Comment on Shirley Sherrod, the Assassins of the Right, and the enablers of the Left.
What's the over/under for how many times we'll hear "Fox" or "Fixed" tonight? Get ready for must-miss tv, but keep in mind Oralmann will probably not even appear until the last segment.
As Keith Goes on 'Vacation', Enjoy His Sophisticated Rapier Wit
Some people expressed surprise that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann suddenly announced a vacation on Friday. Two weeks away from The Hour of Spin. Was it because Tucker Carlson had unnerved him? Baseball season heating up? We think the explanation is precisely what we predicted when A-Mess-NBC banned Olby's butt-boy Markos Malicious from their air:
Keithy doesn't like Joe, Markos hearts Keithy (a true Love Connection), so Markos is happy to smear anyone on Olby's enemies list. Unfortunately, this was too much even for A-Mess-NBC's pusillanimous management, and Markos has been banned from their airwaves--including The Hour of Spin! Oh there is no joy on OlbyPlanet tonight. How long until Oralmann cooks up some excuse to take multiple days off in protest?
How long? Ten days. Ten days during which Olby was not permitted to have his way with Countdown bookings. Ten days during which Edward R Olbermann chafed under the No-Kos Rule. Hardly a surprise, and certainly not unexpected, that he would revolt against the injustice of not having his favorite far-left extremist on the air, camouflaging it as a "vacation".
But fear not. Even as The Great and Powerful Olb will not be on the air for two weeks, you can still enjoy his insights, intellectual prowess, and sophisticated wit by following his twitter feed. Oh wait, he's gone and made it "protected"; nobody gets to see it unless they are Olby-approved. But we have our ways. We thought you might like to see an example of how Keith fills his days and nights. Like a moth inexorably drawn to the flame, Oralmann can't resist responding to critical tweets (right before blocking the senders). Here you'll see what a great speller he is, and view some of that clever, urbane, cerebral repartee that has already made him a twitter legend:
I meet all kinds of people playing Halo 3. Expand your mind, puppet boy /This is urs expanded? U must've started as a rock
@Assholbermann emailed people telling them to: "kill yourself"... /Those weren't people, they were humanoids like you
olbermann goes overboard over his ratings cause he has is concerned about something smaller than his ratings /Your brain?
Rand Paul needs to learn difference between Socialism & Communism... /Lets start with them learning to tie own shoes
There you go @KeithOlbermann - http://tinyurl.com/2cealje /Uh this appears to be a tweet from a rodent of some sort
nearly all-white group replies "I can't see" racism./More KO disdain for We The People //Actually, WE the People
Does anyone think @KeithOlbermann will spend his entire 2 weeks off hiding in a bathtub? //Only dipshits
teheehee, it's a gay joke, everybody! /No it's a "Beck is Psycho" Joke. Probably paints his privates too
Next time...bone up on your grammar and try writing in grown-up English /YOU go bone up
OK, sports fans, Batting Practice has now concluded for another night. Thank you, good night, and good luck.
Reading that is like...well, it's like Edward R Murrow was alive again. Wow. That whole string of comments should be sent to the Pulitzer Committee.
Enjoy two weeks without the infamous, deplorable one. And here's a little traveling music for your listening pleasure. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Another good reason to take a "vacation": the Executive Producer of your show has left and taken another key staffer with her. Inside Cable News had the story over a month ago:
Which cable news show may be showing signs of internal trouble? Rumors are flying that the show's EP has "had it" and another key staffer is leaving the program...
That's exactly what happened today, with Izzy Povich and another staffer finally earning their freedom from OlbyPlanet. ICN confirms that his blind item was about The Hour of Spin (so Keith Olbermann alienates two more people who couldn't stand to work with him) and notes:
Not that this was entirely unexpected but Povich leaving Countdown is huge. You don't usually see EPs leaving the network's flagship primetime show for a new show that is totally unproven. As a network exec you don't want to make the switch because you don't want to potentially upset the applecart for the flagship show, unless you have to. This suggests that there may be a story here to be written concerning what's been going on with Countdown that would force this move.
There's all sorts of fun at the new KeithOlbermann.com website, set up by Tucker Carlson and The Daily Caller. First you might check out the latest edition of their weekly Hour of Spin summary. Here's a shocker: Keith Olbermann shamelessly inserted himself (in a self-aggrandizing fashion) into the Steinbrenner story.
Jim Treacher has breaking Olbermann Twitter news: Krazy Keith doesn't know how to tell time, and made a fool of himself again. Oh wait, maybe that's old news.
Speaking of Twitter, here's how Oralmann replied to someone who dared to suggest that he is something less than perfection itself:
RT @Mamadoxie U gleefully tweet about mistakes but when u F Up we get crickets? /when I f up I'll let u know. Otherwise just assume U f'd up
Right. The Great and Powerful Olb never Fs up, and never makes a mistake. Meanwhile he's responding to critics by being a human spell-check:
...said the buffoon who misspells "biggest"
Yup, Oralmann really believes that spelling errors are proof that you're a buffoon. Unless, that is, it's one of Olby's spelling errors. Then he blocks people who saw it, and stays up all hours of the night deleting his tweets so he can pretend he's infallible and still make fun of other people's spelling mistakes.
Oh, KeithOlbermann.com has also presented a page of video highlights from Keith's career, drawn from the many Olbermann Watch videos. Watch and enjoy reliving some of Monkeymann's biggest embarrassments. And we'll add this one, just for old time's sake:
Olbermann Not Master of His Domain! Now UPDATED with Tucker Q&A!
Krazy Keith has never shown much understanding of the interwebs. You will recall how he lied, wailed, and smeared Fox over a twitter account in his name...only to have it come out that the account had been created for him by MSNBC. Still, Edward R Olbermann wasn't interested. Twitter was too hard for him to figure out:
I tried to sign up last summer and abandoned the project.
Yes, signing up for Twitter is a really intensive "project". People abandon the effort all the time because signing up is so hard that they have to try and try to do it.
It would be months later when A-Mess-NBC finally got him to go on The Twitter, where as we know he now blocks anyone who criticizes him, and attacks 12-year-old fans over their grammar.
Now Al Gore's invention has bitten Herr Olbermahn yet again. Despite being on the air for a decade, and bearing the name Keith Olbermann since birth, the infamous, deplorable one never showed one minute of interest in reserving the domain keitholbermann.com. As a result of his sloth, that domain was first created in August of 2004, and not by Keith Olbermann. Now it has changed hands, and keitholbermann.com is being run by Tucker Carlson, of the Daily Caller. You can read about it here:
The Daily Caller, one of the fastest-growing online media properties, announced today its acquisition of KeithOlbermann.com, expanding the company's global reach into a new segment of the online political market.... "We plan to make The Daily Caller the one-stop online shop for Keith Olbermann commentary," said Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson. "We will be THE Keith Olbermann superstore..."
Olby's reaction was first to laugh it off, then just minutes later (as the paranoia kicked in) to sputter vague threats about legal proceedings. We at OlbyWatch throw our full support toward this new venture, and encourage all our loyal readers to contact the new keitholbermann.com and suggest topics to cover, perhaps bring their attention to some of our hundreds of OlbyWatch videos, and in general encourage them on this noble enterprise.
Tucker Carlson may be reached at his personal email address: keith@keitholbermann.com.
Comments are open!
BONUS: Here, courtesy of Mediaite, is Tucker Carlson explaining his acquisition of the domain name, and detailing just how much Keith Olbermann is hated at MSNBC. And Tucker should know. He worked there:
Sure Enough, Now It Comes Out: Steinbrenner Was a Secret Fan of Countdown!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has been a busy beaver today. Since he has people to write Countdown for him, he can afford to diddle away on his blog of choice, Daily Kos. (Of course it's not beyond belief that ghost writers provide the Kos material as well. But if so they must be pretty disreputable ghosts. With soiled sheets.)
Today his contribution to Markos "Screw 'Em" Malicious is a lengthy diatribe about the evil Rush Limbaugh. It's bereft of even a modicum of logical thought (like when he talks about the estate tax rate--he's not countering Limbaugh at all, but actually reinforcing Limbaugh's point, but Oralmann is too dense to realize it). Plus there's this gem, which just about every who reads OlbyWatch knew would be coming:
Steinbrenner made no secret that he was a viewer of mine, at ESPN, and MSNBC.
Right on time: the retroactive "fan" whose adoration of Edward R Olbermann only gets mentioned after his death. Considering how insensitive this oft-used self-promotional Olby gambit is, it's that much more hypocritical to find him superciliously cluck-clucking at Limbaugh for making a political point on the day someone died. (Which, if you think about it, is, like, every day.) To wit:
You turned a man's death into a race-baiting joke....the timing of this remark is just as callous, and just as sleazy...
Right, It's not callous and sleazy to trade on his death to inflate your barrage-balloon-sized ego, is it Keith? But hey, you're a Daily Kos diarist. You love the place: it's a "nice site"! And while you're puffing up your own reputation by promoting unverified post-mortem claims from someone who is now conveniently unable to contradict, your "nice site" was avoiding being "sleazy" and "callous" as they discussed the heart surgery of Dick Cheney:
Slowly but surely, he is getting a bionic heart. Kind of like Locutis of Borg.
Somehow this must be part of his deal with the devil.
Too late anyway. He already spawned his evil offspring.
I don't believe we would get any truth from him if he were ever compelled to give testimony. We'll have to dig out the truth ourselves, via documents and colluders. So whatever happens to him healthwise, I am fairly indifferent to.
If you look at the device they put in it looks like the devils hand wrapped around and pumping.
who is this guy and why should we care?
That's what you find on Keith Olbermann's blog. And he's calling someone else "callous" and "sleazy"? Hey Olby, before you want to toss dirt on others, you should quit wallowing in the sewer yourself.
Day Four of Keith Olbermann's Ongoing Lie...UPDATE: Not!
It was Friday when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann broadcast falsehoods. (Actually it's every day, but we're dealing with one particular example here.) As usual, he lifted them from a blue blog, didn't bother to fact check, and then put them on the air as "news". Unfortunately, his habit of parroting sites like Think Propaganda came back to bite him again, as Politifact exposed his blatherings as wildly, utterly false.
Herr Olbermahn was confronted about his laughable nonexistent fact-checking on Friday when, as we reported yesterday, he admitted he was utterly wrong and promised that the correction would come that night.
Friday. Monday. Now it's Tuesday, four days later. Edward R Olbermann could have corrected the false information and shown the merest modicum of journalistic ethics. Instead he chose to let the untruths stand without acknowledging or correcting them. If we give him the benefit of the doubt that originally he was merely lazy and inept in not checking the facts, he now knows what he said was untrue. And he's allowing it to stand. In other words, he's turned what may have been just another instance of his pitiable "journalistic" skills into an ongoing lie.
Perhaps Olbermann Watch will have sufficiently humiliated Keith Olbermann that he will slip a perfunctory correction into tonight's Hour of Spin. But we wouldn't suggest betting the house on that possibility. Keith Oralmann would rather be wrong, than do right.
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Our mistake, but we have an excuse. We checked the MSNBC transcripts for both Friday and yesterday, and there was no correction from Olbermann in either case. However, we didn't reckon with the incompetence of MSNBC's web team. Just go to the transcripts page and read the transcript for Friday, July 9. No correction, no mention of the gas/oil subsidies at all. Why is that? Because while msnbc.com claims it is the transcript for Friday July 9, it is in fact the transcript for Thursday July 8. The actual Friday transcript isn't posted at all!
KO did make a correction on Friday night, as politifact notes in their article. Our fault for assuming msnbc's website to be reliable. Our apologies to Keith. We correct our mistakes, and it's good to know that in this case, he did too. Now if he could just admit he was wrong about Lincoln's elections...
Remember when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann absurdly claimed: "I have never knowingly reported anything false and we correct our mistakes."
Yeah, right. We reported how Rip 'n' Read Olbermann lifted bogus stats from his blue blog source, Think Propaganda. And how Politifact nailed him on his falsehoods. On Friday we rashly predicted Oralmann would make the correction, but hey--it's Olbermann. What were we thinking? Of course he boasted that he would do the right thing:
Politifact is absolutely right & we will correct tonight.
But Friday night's Hour of Spin came and went and...well, we didn't notice any correction. So we checked the MSNBC transcript and...well, we didn't notice any correction.
Is this so? Is Keith Olbermann really such an insecure wuss that he can't even admit when he's wrong? When he lifts talking points from an internet website and doesn't bother to check them before broadcasting them as "news"? C'mon Keith, man up. Grow a pair. Keep your word.
As readers of Olbermann Watch have known for years, the infamous, deplorable one has a habit of basing his "reporting" on items lifted from webpages, blue blogs, and the like. And of course, the little matter of fact-checking is something his writers don't bother with. He's embarrassed himself yet again, and not just once, but twice. First we find him melodramatically sneering at Sharron Angle for the crime of saying Abraham Lincoln had lost "a few" elections before becoming President. NOOOO, boomed Oralmann, he only lost one.
Unfortunately, Edward R Olbermann got it wrong. According to Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg, Honest Abe lost more than once. How about five times? These would include:
1832 -- Lost his first race for the state assembly
1842 -- Lost a race for Congress to John Hardin.
1854 -- Elected again to the Illinois legislature, but loses a race for the United States Senate to Lyman Trumbull.
1856 -- Loses the vice-presidential nomination of the new Republican Party to William L. Dayton, a former U.S. Senator from New Jersey.
1858 -- Lincoln loses a race for the United States Senate to legendary rival Senator Stephen A. Douglas.
But if you think that's bad, consider how eagerly Fat Ass thoughtlessly parroted another gem of misinformation from Think Propaganda. Olby lifted some bogus stats from that discredited site, and naturally was unconcerned with such small matters as, um, ascertaining the truth. As a result, he was nailed by Politifact:
Olbermann clearly muffed it twice when he repeated [Think Progress statistics] incorrectly to viewers -- and by a substantial margin -- giving viewers the impression that oil and gas subsidies are 10 times more expensive than they actually are. Because of this, we considered rating his comment Pants on Fire, but his errors seemed to us to be sloppy rather than devious. So we'll give him a rating of False.
Very generous, but any Olbermann report is likely to be either sloppy or devious, so it had to be one or another. You can expect Edward R Olbermann to make a great show of correcting his oil and gas falsehoods (and maybe blame it on someone else), but he'll double down on his Lincoln gaffe. Probably claim that elections to Senate don't count because the voters are actually the state legislators. But then, wouldn't that mean there's no such thing as a Presidential election because the voters are actually the electoral college? Don't try to make sense out of it. It's OlbyLogic.
MSNBC Bans Markos...Amy Robach Bans Herself from OlbyPlanet!
All sorts of developments today regarding the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. There's his attack last night on the "racist" Limbaugh, which turns out to have been concocted from a quote so heavily cherry-picked and cropped that it's not beyond reason to call it a doctored quote. This sort of lie by omission is coin of the realm on OlbyPlanet.
Meanwhile things aren't looking so good for Olby regular and blog boss Markos Malicious. It seems that he thought it would make sense to smear Joe Scarborough by suggesting he murdered an intern. Never mind that the death wasn't even a homicide. Never mind that there's not one scintilla of evidence that Scarborough was even present when it happened. Keithy doesn't like Joe, Markos hearts Keithy (a true Love Connection), so Markos is happy to smear anyone on Olby's enemies list. Unfortunately, this was too much even for A-Mess-NBC's pusillanimous management, and Markos has been banned from their airwaves--including The Hour of Spin! Oh there is no joy on OlbyPlanet tonight. How long until Oralmann cooks up some excuse to take multiple days off in protest?
At least there's one NBCer who knows what associating with the infamous, deplorable one can do to her credibility. Mediaite also reported that Herr Olbermahn admitted in one of his many, many tweets that NBC's Amy Robach refuses (wisely) to appear on Countdown. Refuses to bow before the altar of Edward R Olbermann?!? Maybe Markos should start spreading some rumor about her too. Hey, as long as he's banned anyhow, why not redouble the smears?
Don't expect to hear too much about any of this on tonight's Hour of Spin, where the topics will be the usual dog's breakfast of talking points, accentuated by the usual gang of parrots: The Wolffe Man, discredited partisan hack Dave Weigel, and Olby's favorite low-rent leftist Dennis Miller wannabe, Harry Shearer. It's a Countdown for the ages. It's must-miss tv! Comments are open!
June Chart: Countdown Still a DNC Talking Points Factory
Our monthly scan of the MSNBC transcripts turned out just like all the previous ones. It's what you might expect from the most unbalanced, one-sided "news" program this side of Radio North Korea. Behold, the chart:
Some additional fun facts about the month's statistics:
The most popular Democrat was Robert Reich (three visits to OlbyPlanet).
Favorite left-wing guests included HuffPo blogger Bob Cavnar (seven appearances) and Eugene "Geno" Robinson (four).
Of those guests categorized as independent, the front-runner, with six visits, was Dave Weigel.
Of those guests categorized as conservative or Republican, most were blocked from entering the studio by Nation of Islam poll watchers. Two who made it as far as Olbermann's office were summarily executed. Of course, none was permitted to appear on The Hour of Spin.
Yeah, we know that Weigel is no more "independent" than Crazy Larry O'Donnell (who himself appeared three times). But we bend over backwards in an abundance of caution to ensure that our counts are unimpeachable, so even conservative-haters like Weigel get the benefit of the doubt, and are classed as "independent".
So get set for another month of propaganda from the least diversified hour on all of cable news. Discuss, resolve, and recap. Comments are open!
No sooner had Larry King announced that his iconic interview program on CNN was coming to an end, when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann immediately injected himself into the story. Why he and Larry were best buds, and King was so enamored of Herr Olbermahn's baseball card collection superb analytical skills that he embarked on an eight-year campaign to convince Jon Klein to hire Olby as the lead-in to Larry King Live:
Larry King is a lovely, generous man who tried, for eight years, to convince his bosses to hire me to be his 8 PM lead-in at CNN.
Now it's odd that a crusade to sign Oralmann that ran for eight years never seemed to make any news during that time. It must have been the best-kept secret since the development of the atomic bomb. And never mind that Krazy Keith was more than willing to ridicule his good friend Larry King on air, when he thought his credulous viewership would enjoy a laugh at King's expense:
During a full hour with Larry King, Hello, Miss Hilton sent the nation into a premature slumber and turned out the light. The good news, Mr. King did not confuse Miss Hilton with any of the other Beatles and did not refer to her as George Hamilton.
Yeah, we're sure that's exactly the sort of "journalism" Larry wanted leading into his hour. The latest development: CNN's Jon Klein has weighed in on Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann's astonishing claim that Larry King spent eight years lobbying for CNN to hire Olby. Mediaite's Steve Krakauer asked a simple, direct question about Olbermann's claim: "Is it true"? Jon Klein's response:
Klein: Larry's got a million ideas a day.
Say what? According to Keith, this was Larry's eight-year-long campaign: hire Olbermann! But CNN's President paints it as something completely different--just one of millions of ideas Larry tossed out over his 25 years at the news channel. What Klein didn't say is equally important. He could have said yes, Larry pestered me about it for eight years. Or Larry repeatedly pushed Olbermann. But Klein said nothing even remotely supportive of Oralmann's claim. Instead he tossed the question aside with a flip response, as if anything more substantive would give credence to a preposterous Olbermann conceit.
Even a Disgraced Hack Is Welcomed by Olbermann...Because He IS a Hack!
Set the wayback machine for May 25th. That's when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann sanctimoniously attacked Bill O'Reilly for joking about plugging the oil spill hole with members of NBC News. This shocking depiction of fantasy violence really offended Herr Olbermahn...because he didn't think of it first. Just three days later, Olby would crack that the way to plug the hole was to stuff it with BP executives:
That's how it works on OlbyPlanet. It's only wrong when someone on Fox does it. It's not even wrong when someone at the Washington Post does it--as long as they agree with Edward R Olbermann. So what if frequent Olby parrot Dave Weigel called for Matt Drudge to commit suicide by setting himself on fire?
This would be a vastly better world to live in if Matt Drudge decided to handle his emotional problems more responsibly, and set himself on fire.
No WPitW for Weigel, because Olby approves of Weigel's aims: to slant the news to benefit the Democratic Party, or when necessary to minimize the damage to the Dems, as when Scott Brown defeated Coakley:
I think pointing out Coakley's awfulness is vital, because it's 1) true and 2) unreasonable panic about it is doing more damage to the Democrats.
Hmm, does that sound familiar? It should. It's like a living, breathing example of the sort of "news" that you get on OlbyPlanet. Twisted, slanted, choreographed, and filtered. Ergo it's no surprise that Dave Weigel--out of a job, discredited, and exposed as a slovenly political hack--will be welcomed back in the Seat of Honor on tonight's Hour of Spin. Along with Crazy Larry, The Perfessor, and a Special Education Comment attacking...wait for it...Palin!
Only the diseased mind of a feckless propagandist could welcome Weigel back because he has been exposed as a partisan hack. But that's life on OlbyPlanet. Comments are open!
Oh that Obama! He didn't do what Olbermann told him to do. Krazy Keith spent yesterday hyperventilating about General McChrystal, telling the Prez not to accept his resignation, but instead "Keep him, Mr President". That way Obama will "neuter the political blowback" and "present a front of force and calm and intelligence".
But Obama didn't listen to Herr Olbermahn. Maybe the Prez was influenced by the writings at Keith Olbermann's blog, where they declared that McChrystal is a "monstrous thug", an example of the military's "pathological criminals": "half murderer, and all evil". Yes, our old friends at Daily Kos, recently described by member Olbermann as "a nice site".
But there's a bigger problem on OlbyPlanet. Obama went and appointed General Petraeus. You remember Olbermann on Petraeus, don't you?
Mr. Bush, you had no right to order General Petraeus to become your front man. And he obviously should have refused that order, and resigned rather than ruin his military career.... Mr. Bush, you have hidden behind the general`s skirts... That, sir, is not only un-American, it is dictatorial. And in pimping General David Petraeus, sir, in violation of everything this country has been assiduously and vigilantly against for 220 years...
But that's hardly Oralmann's most egregious insult to the General. You will recall the famed moveon "Petraeus Betray Us" ad, questioning the General's patriotism? The moveon folks have quickly moved to scrub that ad from their website. But as readers of Olbermann Watch have known for years, the Petraeus/BetrayUs smear was not thought up by moveon. Before their ad even appeared, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann was impugning the General's patriotism live, on air, bellowing:
KEITH OLBERMANN, MSNBC HOST: Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? The Petraeus report, less Petraeus, more Betray Us.
And just to make sure nobody missed the point, he put his slur right up on the tv screen:
Yes, Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann is the author of Petraeus/BetrayUs. Moveon stole it from Olby. And now Monkeymann is about to go on the air and...do what? Slam Petraeus anew? Accuse Obama of pimping him? Repeat his "BetrayUs" smear? Or just pretend like none of that ever happened and gush over Obama's choice as if he was for Petraeus all along?
Meet the OlbyLoons (Twitter Edition): Laura Stadler
We know Olbyloons are fixated on the wonderful magnificence that is Keith Olbermann, but even the most rabid aren't as prolific as the one we profile tonight: Laura Stadler. It's hard to imagine how she finds time to serve as moderator on a video game forum, because she's constantly on twitter. In just the past week alone she has sent over 100 tweets to @Keith Olbermann! Such is the nature of obsession whereby anything no matter how trivial (like the weather, or allergy shots) gets sent to @KeithOlbermann, in the desperate hope of getting his attention. Laura seems to have had no luck getting @KeithOlbermann to follow her on twitter. But even worse--it seems that Olby has ceased replying to her at all! Laura offers up innumerable theories for this, but there's an obvious explanation. His replies stopped after Laura gave her age: 48. Here is just a sample of the multiple hundreds of tweets she directed to Oralmann over the last three weeks:
I'll miss getting to hear the Thurber reading live(30 yr HS class reunion is tonight)Will watch via DVR later.
Can't watch @KeithOlbermann because I'm at my HS reunion right now, dammit :-(
I'm going back inside for another round:no fucking signal in the basement where the bar is :-( missing@KeithOlbermann sucks
Good night everyone, including @KeithOlbermann :)
YANKEES WIN!!!!! Now THAT was a good game :D Hope it made @KeithOlbermann happy too ;)
I also watch what I've DVRed during the week....mostly @KeithOlbermann and @Maddow ;)
If you live for the day @KeithOlbermann follows you #YouMayBeALiberal & a #Yankee fan & #shameless //LOL Agreed ;)
I should probably get some rest myself....if I fail to get to sleep, I'll be back later. Good night everyone, especially @KeithOlbermann :)
@KeithOlbermann Looking forward to watching the show.....Musto is really funny and I bet he'll be "En Fuego" tonight ;)
@KeithOlbermann The show is interesting so far....and I see you're wearing your jeans tonight as well ;) Do like the jacket and tie :)
@KeithOlbermann ROFL at Michael Musto's segment. Great show tonight :D I'm trying to behave...still worn out from parties all weekend ;)
@KeithOlbermann is MUCH better looking than Philippe Cousteau!///I agree :D I'm also not a cougar ;)
I have yet to figure out why they impersonate me and then try to undermine me with @KeithOlbermann
@KeithOlbermann Good afternoon Keith :D What lovely weather you're having today :)
Almost done killing time at the doctor after my allergy shots :P Have to do some shopping, but should be home in time for @KeithOlbermann :)
Oh, niiice :D Purple with dark purple tie and black pinstriped jacket tonight. Very nice combo, @KeithOlbermann ;)
That second toss was all kinds of adorable tonight ;)
Am getting the start of a f'ing migraine right now..glad it waited until after both live runs of @KeithOlbermann were over.
I know why this migraine is hitting me:no sleep last night :( I was actually awake to see all 4 @KeithOlbermann broadcasts.
As to the @KeithOlbermann follow goal: He does seem to follow the pretty young women more...I don't stand a chance at 48 :(
@KeithOlbermann Well, nicer realtively speaking, anyway...I would love to hear from you if I'm in trouble for tweeting you so much...pls??
Be NICE to @KeithOlbermann so that maybe he'll tweet to us more often ;)
@KeithOlbermann looks very serious tonight in shades of blue....it's not funeral black ;) Love that striped shirt, too...
@KeithOlbermann Time for me to get some rest. Good Night and I hope you get some sleep, Keith :)
all the data I have on there....like at least 24 @KeithOlbermann podcasts ;) Probably need to delete some :P
@KeithOlbermann How can you say your pictures are unflattering......YOU happen to be quite photogenic, unlike myself ;)
@KeithOlbermann Very nice combo tonight...Charcoal gray jacket and the blue&earth tones tie :D
@KeithOlbermann I hope I'm not in trouble with you for reading your mention stream in addition to my own timeline...I read very quickly
Insomnia last night, and the only way to reset my sleep cycle is to stay awake until the 3rd run of @KeithOlbermann's show starts :(
I feel like I'm on @KeithOlbermann's ignore list, though. Did you see my tweets about the BP respirator farce??
Trying to back up my iPhone right now.....hope the damned thing is finished before @KeithOlbermann is on the air
@KeithOlbermann You know what, Keith? You've got HUGE......amounts of integrity. :) //LOL NOT where *my* brain went ;)
So do you think our teacher (@KeithOlbermann) is going to spank me, give me dentention&punishment "sentences" ala Bart Simpson? ;)
Good night and sleep well :) I'll be heading for bed after @KeithOlbermann is over again....he WAS wearing jeans tonight, BTW ;)
@KeithOlbermann I'm looking forward to hearing the Thurber story you pick for Friday's reading. Sleepytime for me.....Good Night, Keith :
I got the whole show on DVR, but wanted to have the podcast to listen to as well....@KeithOlbermann's reading voice is relaxing ;)
it would be nice if @KeithOlbermann would follow me, if only to be able to comment without the trolls heckling me.
@KeithOlbermann Yeah, it does look rather warm out there today.....hope you're wearing something comfy and using sunscreen ;)
@KeithOlbermann So, what color shirt are you wearing??? We who are watching the game on TV are trying to spot you on the crowd....
I doubt I'll ever get another reply tweet out of @KeithOlbermann....I seem to be persona non grata lately :-(
Can't be putting your foot in your mouth worse than I've done..probably why @KeithOlbermann doesn't answer me anymore
Meanwhile, prepare for tonight's Hour of Spin. Will Olby be wearing jeans again? Or that dark purple tie? And what color shirt will he wear? Laura Stadler wants to know!! Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann Leads Desperation 24-Hour MSNBC Flip-Flop!
Just as we predicted yesterday, MSNBC's critical reaction to Obama's handling of the BP catastrophe didn't even last a day. As if the orders had been beamed in from the DNC, Wednesday found the A-Mess-NBC propagandists back in their sycophantic zone, led by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. John Gibson discusses this, and Oralmann's drama-queen "announcement" that he was leaving Daily Kos (how long will that last?). Listen up, listen uppers:
What to expect on tonight's Hour of Spin?
Olby attack on Joe Barton for saying "shakedown" (but Ed Schultz will get a pass)
Meet the OlbyLoons (Twitter Edition): Donna Cestone
She claims (and therefore wants Keith Olbermann to believe) that she is a registered pharmacist in DC, but twitter user belladonnamc elsewhere describes herself as a "pharmaceuticals professional", which isn't exactly the same thing. Be that as it may, there's no doubt of her unswerving (and borderline irrational) obsession with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, as these tweets demonstrate:
Well deserved; This is wonderful news!!! Congratulations Lawrence and Excellent Selection Keith! :-) [Apparently she too believes Olbermann decides who gets to appear on A-Mess-NBC]
Loved Thurber as usual! I see you're making it more casual without the tie and you looked great!
Not to mention every other night I watch you, you're looking mighty fine tonight! ;-)
Just visiting too and hope you had a great weekend! :-)
Yay; I did catch Thurber! Now to play my taped show from the beginning!
Loved tonight's comment! :-)
Did get your Tweet about being on the 7 train now; get home safely! T-storm here now; I'm going to sleep. Sweet dreams :-)
I'm at The Capital Grille (5310 Western Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda).
Think of it this way: We get to see ALL of your good looks that way and you don't look old! :-)
On my way to Mount Vernon for a Winefest with friends; will Foursquare when I get there...Think you'd like this event!
Was wondering where you've been this gorgeous day! - LOL! :-)
WOW! Beautiful ring! :-)
I enjoyed seeing this at work. Please post more photos of you!
I wanna hear flutes too! :-)
There's much more but you get the idea. The desperation is really sad, but who knows? Perhaps Olbermann will make another Love Connection.
Meanwhile, watch for the fastest flip-flop in Oralmann history as he reverses his mild criticism of Obama yesterday and comes out cheering for BHO tonight. Sure as there's an OlbyPlanet, that's what will happen. Comments are open!
MSNBC Adds Crazy Larry O'Donnell: An Even Whiter Spectrum of News!
In yet another bold programming move, A-Mess-NBC has given its 10:00 pm slot to Lawrence "Creepy Liar!" O'Donnell. Observers are already giving this predictable move a thumbs down, noting how little it really adds to the primetime lineup. But one question remains: "Where are the black faces?" (tm Keith Olbermann). MSNBC's lineup of white news, is now whiter than ever:
While you're pondering how many times Edward R Olbermann will rail against the paucity of "black faces" on A-Mess-NBC (that number would be somewhere around the square root of zero), enjoy this bit from Glenn Beck ridiculing Keith Olbermann--watch it here courtesy of The Right Scoop.
Senate Candidate (D) Accused of Accosting Teen with Porn...So Olbermann Endorses Him!
You really can't get any lower than this. The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is so desperate to promote Democrats and smear Republicans that he'll not just cross the line--he'll obliterate it. Follow: a Democratic candidate for US Senate is arrested and charged with a pornography-related felony. According to the accuser, Alvin Greene (D) accosted her in a restricted school area and stuck a sexually explicit picture in her face. And then tried to get her to go with him. Here is the story as the victim told it:
Yeccch. This is a sleazy and slimy guy. Yet, if you're Edward R Olbermann, Sen James DeMint (R) is worse. So much so, Oralmann declared that (if he lived in the state) he'd cast his vote for the accused pervert! No we're not making this up:
Everyone knows that Edward R Murrow would give his endorsement to a pervert, so why not Krazy Keith? Maybe there's something here that reminds Olby of the good old days, when he could use the company email to entice young things to a nearby hotel room. Perhaps with a bottle of cheap Merlot at the ready. Then again, it could've been Laura's dog that told him he should back Alvin Greene (D). In any case, Man on Fan's diseased mind has sunk to new depths. Just another incident that the new bosses may find to be something less than comcastic. If that happens, Karmawill bite. Comments are open!
Sharron Angle and Laura Ingraham Respond to Latest Olbermann Attack!
Smear, lie, and attack: the stock-in-trade of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. He never gives his victims a chance to respond (yet another way in which he is nothing like Edward R Murrow), but now you can hear what Keith doesn't want you to hear: the other side. Listen here as Sharron Angle joins Laura Ingraham to show up Oralmann for the slovenly political hack he is. (This may be a disappointment to Krazy Keith, but Laura's dog does not take part in the conversation.)
Then get set for tonight's Hour of Spin. Attacks on BP, Dick Cheney, Bush (of course), Chris Wallace...and another zzzzzzz-filled segment of Creepy Uncle Keith reading to the kiddies from the works of an overrated nobody by the name of Thurber. Comments are open!
Hey Here's a New Idea for Olbermann: Why Not Attack Rand Paul?
Oh the excitement of another Hour of Spin, where the topics, propaganda, and biases are about as unpredictable as the rising of the sun. Coming tonight from the infamous, deplorable one:
Doomsday courtesy of the evil BP
The Wolffe Man to spin oil spills in favor of Obama
Political analysis from an unbiased source: Ed Schultz
Requisite attacks on Orly Taitz and Rand Paul
Plus a threat from Oralmann to return again at 10:00 pm
No, that's not a picture of Olbermann, though it looks a little like Musto. Actually that's a picture of someone who will probably get very little attention on tonight's Hour of Spin, because the infamous, deplorable one has bigger fish to fry...
Attack on BP
Howard "Pundit for All Occasions" Fineman for political spin
Lefty David Corn to attack Liz Cheney
Attack on Rand Paul
And creepy Michael Musto to attack Rush for hiring Elton John
A "newshour" that would have made Edward R Murrow proud. Comments are open!
In blasting a typical Olbermann attack at a new target (CNN's Campbell Brown), the infamous deplorable one made a comment that struck those of us here at OlbyWatch, who know him too well, as blatantly fatuous. To quote Olby: "I have never knowingly reported anything false and we correct our mistakes."
Yes, he did say that. OK, so the OlbyWatch Research Division is a bit short-handed during the summer months, but even so they were able to whip up a short list of Edward R Olbermann falsehoods and lies...and guess how many he corrected? Here's a hint: if you guessed one, you might just be too high:
Olbermann lied that Scott Brown 'never disassociated himself' from a shouted statement.
The above? Merely an appetizer. There are literally hundreds more examples. But you get the point. Oralmann is a serial misinformer, a congenital liar, and his claim that he 'corrects his mistakes' is the latest example of the latter.
The Latest Olbermann News: None of It Good...for Olbermann
How are those ratings going, Olby? Not so well. It seems that as FNC continues its dominance over cable news, Countdown to No Ratings is staying the course as well: going down! TV By the Numbers reports that May is Herr Olbermahn's worst month this year, as his audience dwindles and his standings plummet:
May was Countdown with Keith Olbermann's worst month so far in 2010 in the cable news advertiser target adults 25-54 demographic. The show's May, 2010 monthly average of 250,000 adults 25-54 demo viewers was 23% below its 323,000 average in May, 2009.
Perhaps that is why Jed Eckert is reporting on Comcast's plans for Jeff Zucker, and his fair-haired boy Krazy Keith:
The thinking is that Phil Griffin won't have time meet the new bosses before finding himself out on the street. And without Griffin to protect The Stalker from the new corporate bosses, he can cross another network off his list of places he can never work again.
Hmm, some good reading there. Especially when you factor in an exclusive report from Inside Cable News, which has always had good sources inside A-Mess-NBC:
Which cable news show may be showing signs of internal trouble? Rumors are flying that the show's EP has "had it" and another key staffer is leaving the program...
Make of that what you will, and prepare to recap another miserable Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Another month of Olbermann spin, and once again we poured through the MSNBC transcripts and tallied up the guest breakdown for The Hour of Spin. The results are startlingly similar to the sort of intellectual diversity you might expect to find on Radio Venezuela:
Some fun facts:
Most frequent Democratic politico: Rep Gutierrez
Most frequent Democratic strategist: "Crazy" Larry O'Donnell
Most frequent liberal talking head: WaPo's Ezra Klein
Most frequent 'independent' guests: Dave Weigel, The Wolffe Man
Most frequent Republican/conservative guest: um, there weren't any!
Keith Olbermann Ready to Lead the Borking of Rand Paul
Yes the very notion of anyone in the melanin-challenged MSNBC lineup complaining about segregation or diversity is the utter height in self-unaware irony. But A-Mess-NBC is on a mission, and since Keith Oralmann runs the station, he's leading the charge. Racist! Kook! Loser! Watch for it tonight as Krazy Keith kicks off his smear-fest with ultra-leftist David Corn and that crack analyst of American politics, the Brit who is Pinocchio to Olby's Gepetto: the Wolffe Man. Oh and you won't want to miss the ultimate in compelling television: three fables from the overrated James Thurber--like Harry Potter and bubblegum cards, another indication of Edward R Olbermann's stubbornly arrested development.
Since KO fancies himself an ace wordsmith he's already crowing about the oh-so-clever line he will spew on tonight's Hour of Spin: "Enjoy Rand Paul while you can." Yes, he swears he wrote that himself. Such brilliant discourse Shakespeare could only aspire to. We'd better get a telegram off to the Pulitzer committee right now. They don't want to miss this.
We know the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has a peculiar relationship with our canine friends. For example there was that night when Olby had to leave a woman's apartment because he was convinced her dog was talking to him. OlbyPlanet is a place where dogs may talk, but don't bark. And the dog that didn't bark last night was predicted right on these pages by brad90956:
His name is Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat and Connecticut's Attorney General who is running for the US Senate. He claimed he served in Vietnam but obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war. In at least eight newspaper articles published in Connecticut from 2003 to 2009, he is described as having served in Vietnam. Will this candidate make the WPITW list or will Olby refuse to cover the story? I think we all know the answer to that question. Instead, Olby will dedicate the segment to Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Fox News. What a "journalist".
Sure enough, while Blumenthal was headline news everywhere else, his name never even came up on The Hour of Spin. Another Dog That Did Not Bark. What stories will prove to be tonight's quiescent canines? Here's our sneak peak of what Oralmann has in store:
Republicans spinning election results
Republicans block bank reform (ignore the two Dems!)
Republicans have a Souder problem (who's Blumenthal anyhow?)
Left Dem politico to smear Arizona law
Evil right-winger insults Muslim diety
Attack on Republican Lowden
Green propaganda piece w/ Robert Redford
Hmm. GE benefits from green energy programs, will make a bundle on Cap & Trade. Is pushing this agenda some sort of Conflict of Interest for A-Mess-NBC? What, how dare you impugn the ethics of Edward R Olbermann?!? For that crime you are sentenced to having to recap Monkeymann's sixty minutes of chicanery. Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann: Still Cleansing His Twitter Feed of Dissent!
We wrote about how little it took to get blocked by @KeithOlbermann, and told you how many people have been banned from Oralmann's Twitter presence. It shouldn't surprise you that it's still going on:
He was tweeting so many people-and it seemed like he would be on for hours. I swear, I was one of the first people to tweet him. I tried to let him know that I was a huge fan-no response. I tried my unique brand of humor-no response. I looked at who he was tweeting and quickly realized that he like to tweet cute white girls, so I created an account-@OlbermannsBrain and had an avatar of a chick with really big "ta-ta's" I tweeted him, and he responded-by blocking me....
In my last attempt to get a response from Keith I tweeted him this,
"Ha! @KeithOlbermann is getting his ass beat in the ratings by @CNNCampbell"
It provoked a response from Keith that read,
"Keith Olbermann @shaggieshapiro ah I see the problem. You think 150 > 250?
I was so happy! This was it! Mission Accomplished, well it was until I found out that the tweet I sent him got me blocked. I mean, come on-I was blocked because I jokingly said that Campbell Brown was beating him in the ratings???? Campbell Brown's ratings are in the toilet, and if he took the time to read my profile-or my tweets-he would know who I am. But, maybe he just didn't like what he saw.
After all the years I defended him-from all the wingnuts who said the problem with Keith is that he puts people on his show that agree with him-no dissenters. For years I was proud to carry the "Olbermann Kool-Aid", and this is how I get treated? He has ruined my experience, and MSNBC's President Phil Griffin has too. With the absence of David Shuster, and the arrogance of Keith Olbermann I am left with no choice but to stop watching MSNBC.
Twitter is just not cool anymore. Looks like I will be hanging around Facebook. Hopefully, that douchebag won't be on there.
Another one sees the light. Discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Uh Oh...Maybe Olby's New Boss Doesn't Think He's So Comcastic After All
The head honcho of Comcast is talking about what they plans are when they take over NBC. Brian Roberts was effusive about the acquisition of NBC News, but his tone was a little more, well, cautious when the subject turned to the network's illegitimate offspring, A-Mess-NBC:
Playing devil's advocate, former News Corp president and COO Peter Chernin asked Roberts what course of action he might take should, say, MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann begin taking pot-shots at Republican Congressmen.
"Let's have that conversation in 12 months when we're playing with live ammo," Roberts said, before adding that he would ensure that NBC News continued to "keep [its coverage] down the middle, whatever that means."
"Whatever that means"?!? A revealing and arguably appropriate response to the notion of putting Oralmann and "down the middle" news coverage in the same sentence. They aren't even on the same planet! With all the fulsome plaudits he bestowed on NBC the network, his squirrelly reluctance to say even one good word about the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann could prove to be very telling.
Discuss, resolve, and then get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Olbermann Defends Only Having Guests Who Agree with Him!
Is it satire? MSNBC's idea of Comedy Gold? Or are they seriously trying to make Countdown's one-sided guest list a feature?!? Watch MSNBC's new promo, discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's Hour of Spin.
Blocked by Keith Olbermann...For Telling the Truth
Keith Olbermann is having the time of his life on Twitter, but it seems like maybe he doesn't get the community/exchange of ideas/conversation aspect of it very well. Because it seems that he treats it like his kingdom on OlbyPlanet--dissent will not be tolerated. KO keeps an eagle eye out for anyone who dares tweet criticallly of him by watching for his twitter address: @KeithOlbermann. As the tweets fly by, he routinely just blocks dissenters from following his tweets, which in his diseased mind is probably like denying the Library of Congress access to the works of Shakespeare. For a while he was using the #beseeingyou hashtag to rub it in, but perhaps he realized that spectators would actually see how many people he was blocking. Sort of a numeral count of his pettiness quotient. So he's cut back on that, but he's still banning people left and right...well, more correctly stated, banning people right and right.
We didn't think our tweet was particularly controversial. We wanted to draw attention to our monthly analysis of Countdown's guests, neatly categorized by partisan and ideological viewpoints. It's nothing we haven't done before, and it's not exactly some kind of devious attack. The guest lists are right there on the Countdown transcripts page. We just go through, tally up all the names, and place them in the appropriate categories. The results for April were typical, indicative of the exclusionist approach Herr Olbermahn takes on The Hour of Spin. So we issued our tweet:
April chart: Countdown w/ @KeithOlbermann breakdown of guests by party and ideology. It's just a tad imbalanced... http://bit.ly/asDZlW
We thought we were being generous by saying it's "just a tad" imbalanced, but Edward R Olbermann didn't see it that way. He quickly responded with a tweet of his own:
@johnnydollar01 When will #JohnnyDollar01 reveal who funds him?
Experienced OlbyWatchers will spot immediately the same sort of demagoguery that regularly appears on The Hour of Spin. First, the substance is completely ignored. The chart is based on NBC's own transcripts. The counts are accurate. So switch-hitter Oralmann drops any challenge to the truth of the chart, and pivots to a personal attack. One entirely without evidence, concocted purely from the malevolent brain of Fat Ass himself. In other words, Another Olbermann Lie. How quickly he forgets that "accusations demand evidence", when it comes to smearing someone as being on a nonexistent payroll. But concern for truth is not exactly high on the list of Olby attributes.
It was just moments later that it happened. We had been following Olbermann's tweets for weeks, but all of a sudden our access was cut off. We tried again to re-add him to our follow list, with this result:
Blocked by Keith Olbermann! Banned from being in the Emperor's Twitter Presence for daring to post a chart that told the truth! We knew Krazy Keith had some self esteem issues, and that his cowardice has kept opposing viewpoints off Countdown for years. But we didn't realize he was so insecure that he has to put up walls around a freaking Twitter account! It almost makes one pity the sniveling little weasel.
Make of this what you will. Discuss, resolve, and then prepare to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
PS: Here's a twitter user who has obviously figured out the real story about johnnydollar01. There's probably a 50/50 chance that Oralmann will think this seriously true:
@KeithOlbermann Queef, @JohnnyDollar01 is not only funded by but IS John Gibson!!!!! LOL u probably believe that #bathtubboy I KNOW u do!
Glenn Beck Ridicules the Sophisticated Humor and Wit of Keith Olbermann
Watch as Beck mocks those immortal lines that still stand today as the zenith of Keith Olbermann's intellectual badinage: "You're a fascist!" The video is excerpted from a post at The Right Scoop, where you can watch a longer version that also tackles Obama's "predator drone" jokes. Watch and enjoy, watch and enjoyers:
April Countdown Guests: A Full Spectrum of Viewpoints--Everything from A to B
Another month of Olbermann spin, and once again we poured through the MSNBC transcripts and tallied up the guest breakdown for The Hour of Spin. The results will not surprise you:
This is the sort of fairness and diversity of opinion that must be the envy of Radio North Korea. A few fun facts about the statistics:
The most frequent guest categorized as 'liberal' was Chris Hayes.
The most frequent guest categorized as 'democratic strategist' was Lawrence O'Donnell.
If Crazy Larry's sub-hosting appearances are not counted, the most frequent 'democratic strategist' guest was Markos 'Screw 'Em' Moulitsas.
The most frequent guests categorized as neutral were Richard Wolffe and Dave Weigel.
The most frequent guests categorized as either 'Republican' or 'conservative' were...nobody. There weren't any.
Notes: Lawrence O'Donnell is a long-time strategist for Democrats though that is often unmentioned in his MSNBC appearances. Markos M says the purpose of his website is to elect Democrats and he has worked for Democratic candidates, including Howard Dean, so he is considered a 'Dem strategist'. Chris Hayes is categorized as 'liberal' based on the fact that he consistently takes liberal positions. (Duh!)
Discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
We often hear the notion expressed that while Keith Olbermann may not know much about politics, or geography, he's really a whiz at sports, particularly baseball. Because, you know, he has the bestest baseball card collection in the whole wide world...at least in the possession of someone over 21 years old. But in truth, Edward R Olbermann is as reckless and irresponsible regarding baseball as he is with more serious matters.
It wasn't that long ago that Oralmann smeared Hispanic ball player Albert Pujols and Chris Mihlfeld, his trainer. You can read the sordid details here, but the story tracks what Krazy Keith does every night on The Hour of Spin: he lifts a story from a blog, doesn't bother to verify it, then runs with it as fact. Yeah, that worked out real well, didn't it?
Of course things get really dicey when Monkeymann decides to ignore the Separation of Sports and State and intermingles his maniacal political jihads with baseball. His latest gem began on twitter and was reinforced on Thursday's Hour of Spin, and it is more moronic smears from the infamous, deplorable one:
Bitter Irony Alert: by my analysis, the only MLB team without a prominent (possible All-Star or future HOF) Hispanic player? Arizona. ~ MSNBC's Keith Olbermann via Twitter
It didn't take long for knowledgeable baseball observers to see what Olby was doing here: smearing all the Hispanic players on the Diamondbacks as sub-par, just to prop up one of his tired Daily Kos talking points. The reaction is best summarized by The Sports Retorter:
Miguel Montero, the Diamondbacks' catcher is from Venezuela. Montero arguably would have been in contention for the 2010 All-Star Game if he hadn't injured his knee early in the season. Montero hit .294 last season with 16 home runs 59 RBI and a .832 OPS. Not shabby numbers by anyone's account.
And what about Gerardo Parra? The young Venezuelan had a breakout season in 2009 batting .290 with 5 home runs, 60 RBI and a .729 OPS in just 120 big league games. He was so good that he finished even received votes for the NL Rookie of the Year.
Not enough? What about the former face of the franchise? The man who was responsible for the greatest moment in Arizona sports history and is now a special assistant to the general manager? Does Luis Gonzalez not count in Mr. Olbermann's estimation? Gonzalez is a Cuban American, and was a fantastic player in his day, representing the Diamondbacks in five MLB All-Star Games.
Greg Esposito has much more to say about this, so read the whole thing. And ask yourself what kind of a "journalist" will smear the reputations and denigrate the abilities of these Hispanic ball players just to backstop a phony partisan political talking point? Maybe the kind who never could make the team, couldn't even serve as bat boy, and to this day can't even drive a car? Ya think?
Discuss, resolve, and recap the last (thank you, thank you, thank you!) Hour of Spin for the week. Comments are open!
Embarrassment! Olbermann 'Report' Lifted from Conspiracy Site Falls Apart on Air!
The infamous, deplorable one thinks he is the next incarnation of Edward R Murrow. But we don't think the estimable Mr Murrow would lift alleged 'news stories' from wacked-out conspiracy websites and the present them on air. Yet that's exactly what Herr Olbermahn did on Monday's program, as he relentlessly hyped his breaking news: Sarah Palin's testimony at the email hacker trial just might be perjury. Oh, and in case you didn't get the idea, he repeated the word "perjury" over and over in hyping his breaking news. That is until his guest showed up to pour cold water all over Krazy Keith's latest scoop:
Uh oh. Guests aren't supposed to embarrass Oralmann in front of millions...well, make that thousands of viewers. Will he be permitted back on OlbyPlanet soon? Only time will tell. But poor Mr Weigel was swiftly turned on by the denizens of the wacky site Monkeymann lifted his 'news report' from. So what was this reliable source used by Edward R Olbermann? The subtly-titled (and substantially fictitious) Palingates. And while KO has gone to some odd wells in seeking the most unreliable 'news' available, this is the first time he's relied so heavily on a conspiratorial site this loony. One that claims Sarah Palin faked her pregnancies, and pores over grainy photographs as if they were the Zapruder film to expose the truth about the Trig pregnancy. Yes, Keith Olbermann's latest source for news is a Trig Truther site. What's coming next from the infamous, deplorable one? The real lowdown on who brought down the Twin Towers? Maybe an hour-long special with George Noory on the UFOs who are behind it all?
Who would have guessed that the once-esteemed news department of NBC would end up being humiliated by an incompetent sports guy masquerading as a 'journalist', lifting stories from crackpot websites and further dragging the Peacock reputation through the mud?
Beck Uses Olbermann 'Fascist' Clip to Demonstrate Hate Speech
You may find this segment from the eeevil Glenn Beck of interest. There are several familiar clips shown, including the famous "You're a Fascist!", screamed by Edward R Olbermann at the President of the United States. Glenn Beck puts the rantings of Herr Olbermahn and others in context:
As further show prep for tonight's Hour of Spin, check out this column from sure-to-be-worst-person-nominee David Zurawik. Even though he is a liberal, Zurawik finds MSNBC "Irresponsible" for giving air time to Keith Olbermann, whom he likens to a modern-day Joe McCarthy. Oh, and watch for this guy on tonight's show. He's just a comedian of course, but by sheerest coincidence a comedian who writes for the Huffington Post and is involved with "Laughing Liberally". Yes, on OlbyPlanet, even comics must conform to Monkeymann's politics or they will not be allowed to appear in the presence of the infamous, deplorable one.
Scarborough, About to Unload on Olbermann, Bites Tongue
It's too bad A-Mess-NBC has cracked down on Joe. Because it would have been fascinating to hear what Scarborough would have said if he didn't have to worry about Edward R Olbermann demanding that he be kicked out of 30 Rock. The clip from this morning's broadcast:
Olbermann on Twitter: Thief Hannity Steals Money from Charities!
Inside Cable News connects the dots on MSNBC's glaring double standard:
The manner and zeal in which Olbermann deals with trolls and detractors is interesting. It's interesting not because of the way he does it but because it echoes an infamous incident someone else from MSNBC had a few months ago. And I have to wonder if David Shuster is looking at Olbermann's tweets and thinking to himself if they're going to allow that then why did he get his twitter privileges revoked...
How about that, Olbermann getting special treatment. Whoda thunkit? And his twitter account is so full of perceptive insights. Like when he exults in a comparison of how many followers he has:
he's as phony as a three dollar bill he accepted for charity and then kept
The 'charity' where Hannity keeps the $$?
Recall that all Shuster did was state that James O'Keefe, who had been arrested and charged, was guilty and would go to jail. But at least Shuster was talking about a real case, an actual investigation--even though he was predictably wrong about how it would turn out (or he wouldn't be Shuster). But Judge Olbermann's rulings on Sean Hannity (other than the one where he crows about having more followers) are completely out of left field: there is no criminal investigation, let alone a pending charge. In fact, no such accusation of pocketing money has been made by anyone, other than in Krazy Keith's fevered fantasties!
A-Mess-NBC was pretty quick to yank Shuster off Twitter, for much less than what Edward R Olbermann is perpetrating day after day. It sure seems like the peacock "news" channel has a double standard: different rules for different fools.
The greatness that is Keith Olbermann is so far beyond that of mortal men that it's almost like a god coming down to earth when he graces the rabble with a few of his immortal tweets. And Edward R Olbermann has a favorite topic: no, not Palin, or O'Reilly, or Beck, or even Obama. Nothing so warms the cockles of Olby's heart as talking about...himself! His achievements, the swells who know him and fawn over him, and of course the great and near-great who hang on every word uttered on The Hour of Spin. Submitted for your consideration, just a few examples of Oralmann on his favorite subject:
Larry King is warm-hearted + generous + has championed my career for 15 yrs...
I've been on Craig twice and he's been on Countdown twice.
Friend of mine showed blog/cards to Bob during the rain delay in SF and he laughed "Where does Keith GET this stuff?"
Lotta mutual fanboy stuff there (except for Mary Jo). They watch, I've watched them for 20 yrs.
I gave MST3K its 1st big review in the LA Times in 1990 or 91. Its still on the Times website.
One of the hoots of this job was dinner w/Cleese, Gilliam, Jones.
I am a Met "friend" - sit with the GM most of my days out there.
Flustered Olbermann Calls Bathtub Story a Lie, Gibson Responds!
We noted yesterday how the twitter hashtag #bathtubboy was driving Keith Olbermann to exasperation. Today he kicked it up a notch, telling someone (as he was blocking them from following OlbyTweets):
@JayoftheDead You do know John Gibson simply made up the bathtub crap after MSNBC fired him, right? You live his lie. #beseeingyou
Keith really is the new Edward R Murrow, isn't he? Perhaps he'll become even more discombobulated when he hears John Gibson's retort to his sophomoric attacks. We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
Discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
So how's that twitter thing working out for Olby? Not so well. A tweeter had some unkind words for the infamous, deplorable one, but what really seemed to set him off was a new hashtag that has appeared. (Hashtags are used to mark tweets with a key word, like #glennbeck, so interested folks can see all the tweets on that subject.) When one @robsolo mentioned Edward R Olbermann in a tweet, he included that new hashtag we mentioned: #bathtubboy. That so got Oralmann's panties in a bunch that not only did he send off a snarky insult to @robsolo, he also blocked the guy (noting it with the #Beeseeing you tag) from following OlbyTweets! Plus it seems like @robsolo is not the only one Mr Courageous is blocking...
@robsolo - I detest @KeithOlbermann and only follow him to see what sort of vile misogyny or race baiting he'll tweet. #tcot #gop#bathtubboy
@KeithOlbermann - @robsolo Well, if you can listen to John Gibson's made-up stories and you still can use your fingers, props to you. #Beseeingyou
@robsolo - @glennbeckgirl22 He's a coward. But how can you tell if you've been blocked? #bathtubboy
@Evanb_86 - @glennbeckgirl22 #bathtubboy blocked me too
@robsolo - Whatever you do, don't mention the bathtub incident to @KeithOlbermann, he's a little sensitive about it heh #tcot#gop #bathtubboy
Such fun. Discuss, resolve, and recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Great thanks to our friends at Broliath for this glimpse into the mindset of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann and his pals at A-Mess-NBC:
Discuss, resolve, and then prepare for another week of Edward R Olbermann. For additional pre-show prep, check out the Daily Caller's Olby week in review. Plus you might get some hints about tonight's Hour of Spin from Monkeymann's shiny new twitter account (if you can stomach reading the most egregiously self-absorbed tweeter in the known 'verse). Comments are open!
Olbermann's Triumphal Return Loses Lawrence O'Donnell's Viewers!
A funny thing happened to Edward R Olbermann when he made his Big Return to Countdown last week. Well, maybe not funny to Olby, but we can't imagine that Larry O'Donnell wasn't smiling at least a little bit. O'Donnell hosted The Hour of Spin for four days the previous week, and we compared his ratings with the same four days of the following week hosted by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. The numbers tell the story:
Ouch! Do you suppose MSNBC's bosses at Comcast are looking at numbers like these? Could they be wondering why they should pay an exorbitant salary to Krazy Keith, with all his high maintenance idiosyncracies, when they can attract more viewers for much less cost with their new best friend Larry?
Of course neither of them comes anywhere near the eeevil Mr Bill, but when it comes to bang for the buck, will MSNBC continue to pour money down the Olbermann rat-hole? Discuss, resolve, and recap! Comments are open!
Does Keith Olbermann Believe The American Legion Is a Right Wing Hate Group?
That's the idea you might get from Monday's Hour of Spin, where Edward R Olbermann allowed his guest to smear US veterans without Olby even raising one of his plus-size eyebrows. Perhaps he was too busy thinking thinking ahead to his glorious Tuesday night triumph, without realizing 28% of the viewers who tuned in on Monday would abandon ship on Tuesday. Apparently one day of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is more than enough.
As Obama Returns from Afghanistan Olbermann Returns to Countdown
Tonight the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is expected to report on the President's Afghanistan visit. Obama's speech to the troops showed considerable resolve--exactly the opposite of what Oralmann wanted. Just to refresh your memory, here's is Olbermahn's demand that Obama "get out" and leave Afghanistan to the Taliban:
Of course, that was a long, long time ago...four months. Is Krazy Keith going to flip-flop on another issue? Will he crank up the rhetoric and demand again that Obama "get out"? Or will he find some way to spend so much time on things like Sarah Palin that he can relegate the Afghanistan question to a few tossed off sentences and neatly avoid the issue? Discuss, resolve, and recap. Comments are open!
Many were surprised that after the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann returned to the airwaves on Monday, he just as quickly vanished again, leaving Crazy Larry to man the ship. We're not sure about the wisdom of such an arrangement, given that Larry hasn't lost Keith's audience, but may actually be building on it!
But Olby never planned to return for more than that one night. His own words at his blog of choice, Daily Kos, specifically said that would be the case:
I felt compelled to come in off my grief leave, just for the night...
So don't be surprised if Herr Olbermahn doesn't make an appearance for the rest of the week. He's on 'grief leave'. And there are five stages to the grieving process. Or maybe six: an extra stage for world-shattering ruminations on baseball trivia...
His own personal plan for redistributing teams among the Major Leagues
And those are from just this week. So far. There are still two more days to go! We're sure the Major League Baseball folks are pleased. After all, he couldn't do both: write up his fanboy baseball posts and host Countdown too. It's clear what comes first for Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
Inside Cable News reports that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will be returning to his throne tonight. Perhaps he will bask in the glow of another victory for President Obama. But wait, how can that be? Let's set the wayback machine for a long, long time ago...all the way back to December! As the mists clear, we find Edward R Olbermann pontificating on health care reform and the evils of mandates and why the Senate version of the health care bill should be...killed!
This is not health, this is not care, this is certainly not reform.... They must now not make the defeat worse by passing a hollow shell of a bill just for the sake of a big-stage signing ceremony.
You have just agreed to purchase a product. If you do not, you will be breaking the law and subject to a fine. You have no control over how much you will pay for the product.... The bill now is little more than a legally mandated delivery of the middle class (and those whose dreams of joining it slip ever further away) into a kind of Chicago stockyards of insurance. Make enough money to take care of yourself and your family and you must buy insurance -- on the insurers terms -- or face a fine.
This provision must go. It is, above all else, immoral and a betrayal of the people who elected you, Sir. You must now announce that you will veto any bill lacking an option or buy-in, but containing a mandate. And Sen. Reid, put the public option back in, or the Medicare Buy-In, or both....
No single payer? No sale. No public option? No sale. No Medicare buy-in? No sale. I am one of the self-insured, albeit by choice. And I hereby pledge that I will not buy this perversion of health care reform. Pass this at your peril, Senators, and sign it at yours, Mr. President. I will not buy this insurance. Brand me a lawbreaker if you choose. Fine me if you will. Jail me if you must.
Care to see the complete rant in all its histronic glory? We are happy to oblige:
Of course that was then, and this is now. Will Oralmann reiterate his principled objections tonight, call for the bill to be repealed, and boast how he will refuse to obey its provisions? Or will all that be forgotten as Herr Olbermahn does a complete about face and continues his slobbering love affair with the Prez? Discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's Big Return. Comments are open!
UPDATE: One way to disguise an imminent flip-flop is to camouflage it by changing the subject. Olby has posted a preview of tonight's Special Education Komment. The theme: Republicans are racists, and people shouldn't call names. Yes, Keith Olbermann, the man who spews epithets like 'psychotic', 'schmuck', 'facist', 'whore', 'fat ass', 'slut', 'monkey', and 'c-nt', is just the guy to make that case!
...He was my inspiration, and will always remain so. His bravery these last six months cannot be measured. He is as much my hero now, as he was when I was five years old.
Media Institute Wants Public Apology for Olbermann's Latest Nazi Smear
We reported earlier on the vicious personal attack Keith Olbermann spewed at Floyd Abrams. Mr Abrams is the father of Dan Abrams, MSNBC legal analyst, but as a first amendment attorney he dared to represent a client Oralmann didn't like. So Keith maniacally smeared Mr Abrams, who is Jewish, by comparing him with a Nazi.
Now the Media Institute, dedicated to defending the first amendment, has demanded that Edward R Olbermann issue a public apology for his slander. Their open letter, which deserves to be read in full, pulls no punches:
For any Jew to be compared to a Nazi collaborator is vile, but in the case of Floyd is simply beyond comprehension.... If you believe that attorneys should be personally vilified whenever they advocate a cause you oppose or a client you dislike, we would like to know how you believe our system is supposed to work. Many of the freedoms you enjoy as a journalist exist because of the work of Floyd Abrams throughout his exemplary career. Yet even if Mr. Abrams had not blazed important paths for the rights of the press, he does not deserve to be personally insulted, which for you may have seemed like nothing more than a clever turn of phrase.... But we also look forward to your public apology to Floyd Abrams for your unwarranted personal attack.
Our advice to the Media Institute: don't hold your breath waiting for that Olbypology. Comparing people to Nazis is nothing new for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Whether it was giving the "Sieg Heil" salute (for which he was admonished by the ADL), or comparing Fox News to Nazis, not to mention calling the Bush administration facist and likening it to the Third Reich, Herr Olbermahn has never been able to purge himself of the compulsion to demean his enemies with the Nazi comparison.
From the OlbyWatch archives, a little remembrance of Keith's love/hate relationship with the Nazi smear:
Discuss, resolve, and recap the week's last Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Absent from Countdown, Olbermann Writes Increasingly Bizarre Kos Posts
He hasn't been on The Hour of Spin for a while, but don't get the impression that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann hasn't been busy. Maybe just not busy doing what you thought. The posts continue of course over at the (now heavily moderated) baseball blog. Meanwhile he's picking up the pace at his blog of choice, Daily Kos (proprietor: Markos 'Screw 'Em' Moulitsas). Mediaite noticed that he posted a blast at Jesse Ventura:
Keith Olbermann responded to an interview between Cenk Uygur and Jesse Ventura with a lengthy blog post on Daily Kos last night. Then he followed it up with 18 more comments to fellow Kos commenters. All concern his history with MSNBC, Ventura's, Ashleigh Banfield's time at the network (and leaving the network) and...more.
Jesse's crime? He criticized MSNBC. It is ironic that for all his rhetoric, Oralmann proves at heart to be the quintessential 'company man', flacking for his bosses even when he is supposedly preoccupied with other matters.
And yet the obsessive-compulsive nature of this cannot be understated. It was after 3:00 am, and Keith was presumably back home (he claims he wrote the lengthy original post at the hospital, using an iPhone!). But though it was the middle of the night, Edward R Olbermann was still tap-tap-tapping away. For some reason he thought it necessary to produce a detailed list of every person who held the 8:00 pm slot on A-Mess-NBC. We suppose that's nice bit of ego-onanism for someone who can then claim "I had it longest", but really, it's just...well...weird:
Notice how he puts that line break in to highlight 2, and again to separate 21 from the entries preceeding it? Self-absorbed much?
Keith Olbermann Doubles Down With New Personal Attack on Bill Simmons!
People are starting to wonder if Keith Olbermann has spiraling toward the career meltdown so many have speculated about for years. It was just a few days ago when he attacked ESPN's Bill Simmons as a hack with "no discernible insight or talent". (Keep in mind that ESPN and Olby parted company on less than friendly terms.)
A storm of commenters reacted to Oralmann's rant to the point where Keith had to cleanse the comment thread of those pesky dissenting voices. Sort of like he does every night on The Hour of Spin.
But Olby believes that no opportunity to personally attack someone on his 'enemies' list should go to waste, so he has doubled down and launched a new invective-filled salvo at Simmons. If you don't believe that paranoia strikes deep, then how else to explain Olbermann's latest delusion--that Simmons is cyber-stalking him in the comments while disguising himself under a panoply of pseudonymns:
And we now encourage Mr. Simmons to again falme [sic] the comments section under various identities, to his heart's content.
Oh there's a lot more hate from Krazy Keith so read the whole thing. And then check out Jed Eckert's latest take on all this:
This may just be a frivolous and minor spat among relatively minor media players, but it goes to a pattern of unraveling for Keith. Why gratuitously attack "The Sports Guy?" What did he ever do to you? He's a successful figure at ESPN, so there's probably some jealousy factoring in, but come on.... By the way, Simmons' reference to Keith living alone could have something to do with rumors about the stalker's once live-in girlfriend, Katy Tur (pictured below in happier times.) We hear that Katy has had enough of Keith and has flown the coop. Maybe he can reignite his affair with karmabites1!
Keith has been off the air all this week, except for a taped-in-advance segment on Monday's program. That segment appeared to air from "on location", obviously intending to suggest Olby was at the hospital visiting his father. Which he may well have been.
But let's bear in mind what happened last week. The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann launched into the most recent of his unhinged diatribes, this one at a fellow MSNBC employee, Dan Abrams. This vicious personal attack had been preceded by KO smearing Abrams's father, constitutional attorney Floyd Abrams, by comparing him to a Nazi. (Yes, Floyd Abrams is Jewish. No, we don't think Olbermann cared one whit about tossing another "Nazi" stinkbomb into the public arena.) We waited for some action from NBC honchos, who were quick to slap down Joe Scarborough for daring to criticize Edward R Olbermann. But it hasn't come. Or at least it hasn't been publicly revealed.
So that brings us to our question of the day. What has Keith Olbermann been up to? Three days away from The Hour of Spin so far this week. Odds are that today will make four. We understand if he is consumed with personal issues, and again extend our best wishes and prayers for all of his family in this troublesome time. But it's not like Olby isn't doing other things.
Just this morning he was making oh-so-witty comments over at his blog of choice, Daily Kos (proprietor: Markos "Screw 'Em" Moulitsas). Here he is jumping into a Sarah Palin bashing thread with some OlbyHumor about Todd and Levi.
And of course there's his baseball blog. He was busy there on Tuesday, bragging about how assiduously he keeps politics out of his posts, as he launched into a seemingly endless stream-of-consciousness ramble about the career of--guess who?--Jim Bunning! What's interesting is that it obviously took a while to write up--it's a long post--and it was published Tuesday at 7:34 pm. Right around the time when he'd ordinarily be preparing for Countdown.
Why he is not doing The Hour of Spin, but instead is writing long-winded dissertations on baseball, is a question we can't answer. His choice, or someone else's? Discuss, resolve, and recap. Comments are open!
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: The baseball post linked above attracted a storm of comments. Today the reader reactions have been trimmed down to half of the original number. Apparently on his blog, just like on The Hour of Spin, dissent is not to be tolerated.
February Chart: Olbermann Still as Balanced as Radio North Korea
Another month of Olbermann spin, made more bearable only by the fact that it is the shortest one of the year. Once again we poured through the MSNBC transcripts and tallied up the guest breakdown for The Hour of Spin. The results will not surprise you:
Here are some fun facts about the stats. In an overabundance of caution we classified a number of frequent guests as 'neutral', even though they very rarely were. So they aren't counted in the chart. These include The Wolffe Man (6 appearances) as well as Margaret Carlson, Howard "Pundit for All Occasions" Fineman, and the Perfessor (Turley). Among those categorized as Dem strategists, the names that came up most were Crazy Larry O'Donnell (7) and Markos "Screw 'Em" Moulitsas (5). Among the liberal/progressives who weren't Dem strategists, David Corn led the way (6), followed by Ezra Klein (5). And these are Republicans/conservatives Olbermann had on his show:
Do you want to see that list again? Here it is:
As you discuss, resolve, and prepare to recap another excruciating Hour of Spin, you might want to check out the latest from Jed Eckert:
Sources within NBC News have confirmed that things are more dire than we originally thought. Veteran correspondents are cringing and are openly embarrassed by Olbermann's self-absorbed theatrics.
Yet again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to notable stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra. Countdown did not air on Thursday. Crazy Larry substituted for Olbermann on Friday.
Get ready to recap another week of The Hour of Spin...comments are open!
...His bosses have long suspected that he was playing the bereaved son card. They could even tolerate the sick father excuse to a point (apparently even when that said father was not be seen at the many Yankee games Keith was attending - one notable game was the October 9 play-off against the Twins!) But now things have really gotten creepy. In his special comment on Wednesday, in what can only be a cry for help or sign of impending mental breakdown, Keith talked about killing his father...
And more:
...Word is that the folks at NBC are now looking for a way out. Very informed sources tell us that they realize all his relationships with employers end badly. It is just a matter of degree. Add to that - his embarrassingly dismal ratings no longer appear to warrant his inflated salary...
The article seems to be a mix of anonymous sources and speculation, so read the whole thing and make your own decision as to its validity.
Olbermann will again be off tonight, reportedly due to his father's illness. We extend our best wishes and prayers.
Olbermann Attacks Dan Abrams as a Bitter, Fired Failure!
Edward R Olbermann has found someone new to hate. Tonight he accused Dan Abrams of using Mediaite.com to attack the Great and Powerful Olb. Because, well, it must be because Abrams was "fired" by MSNBC, and is so "embittered" by his "failure" that he's taking it out on Queeg Olbermann. No we're not making this up. See for yourself:
This is fresh off Herr Olbermahn comparing Dan Abrams's father, attorney Floyd Abrams, to a Nazi! Is Dan Abrams still the Chief Legal Analyst for MSNBC? If so, does that mean that it's OK for Keith to attack a fellow MSNBC employee, while Joe Scarborough gets slapped down for criticizing Olby on twitter? Let us remember the words of the man who purports to be Keith Olbermann's boss:
We have many strong personalities with differing, passionate opinions, but it is important to remember that we are all on the same team. I want to reiterate my long-standing policy: We do not publicly criticize our colleagues. This kind of behavior is unprofessional and will not be tolerated.
Let me be clear: I encourage you to keep doing what you do best. Give the viewers your perspective and a vigorous debate on the issues they care about. But do not turn substantive differences into personal ones.
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts yet again to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. THere is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: Iraq reference count does not include Oralmann's ritual closing mantra.
Get ready to recap another dismal five days of The Hour of Spin...comments are open!
Gibson Rips Olbermann, Explains Origin of 'Bathtub Boy' to Clueless Caller
Listen and enjoy as Gibby explains to his clueless caller the empty idiocy of Keith Olbermann, and how he came to be known as 'Bathtub Boy'. Then recap the week's last Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Tuesday night, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann once again revived a favorite meme: put Cheney on trial for war crimes! And of course, for "expert" commentary Olby turned to his favorite felon, disbarred lawyer John Dean. Needless to say, Liz Cheney wasn't exactly impressed and you can hear her tell John Gibson what she really thinks of Olby and the felon:
Discuss, resolve, then recap Wednesday's and Thursday's Hours of Spin. Comments are open!
Another week of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann means another analysis of five days worth of OlbyTranscripts, direct from MSNBC's official page. Would it surprise you to learn that there was someone who got more coverage on OlbyPlanet than even President Obama? Here are the results of our keyword searches:
Clearly Herr Olbermahn has a new Olbsession, and she's from Alaska. Well he's got to do something, with his audience dwindling and his career circling the drain. The most recent ratings show him losing overwhelmingly to Mr Bill, as is customary. Even more embarrassing, Olby regularly slips out of his poor second place and falls into third. Note how that powerhouse of journalism, Nancy Grace, yet again defeats Krazy Keith in the critical, all-important, nothing-else-matters, crucial, much-beloved "key demo". It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Prepare to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Props to IMAO for this delightful little creation:
Note: MSNBC has not posted Friday's transcript yet so our 'Countdown By the Numbers' post will be delayed until tomorrow. Ergo, use this thread to recap tonight's miserable Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Olbermann and Maddow: MSNBC's $1 Billion Dollar Money Machine?!?
As Keith Olbermann slips deeper and deeper into irrational dementia, his claims become increasingly divorced from reality. Anyone who reads Olbermann Watch knows how he regularly lies with impunity, often in an embarrassing attempt to puff up his own importance. All of this gets magnified when he saunters into his personal echo chamber of adulation at his blog of choice, The Daily Kos.
The latest example finds Edward R Olbermann boasting of the money that flows into A-Mess-NBC from just two programs: Countdown and Rachel Maddow. But it's not enough to claim that his show is profitable. Olby has to kick it up a notch, and tells the credulous Kossacks that, between him and Maddow, they are responsible for nothing less than a billion dollars in profits!
Those of you who've posted about Comcast meaning the end of my show or Rachel's can, I think, relieve yourselves of such concerns....Whatever else you think of these guys, they are not in the habit of saying "a billion in profit over the next five years? Who needs it! Cancel the shows that generate it! (Oh, and let's keep paying both of their salaries, too)."
Now maybe Keith has a point there. Because his show, and Maddow's, are such powerhouses in the ratings that they are just setting the world on fire. The advertising revenues must be huge because their names are on everybody's lips. But don't take our word for it. Check out the latest CBS/NY Times poll:
Discuss, resolve, and recap the week's last Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann Blasts Steve Capus, Says He Should Be Fired?!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann made a remarkable statement last week, as he assailed Roger Ailes yet again as "worst person":
But our winner, Roger Ailes of Fixed News, announcement tonight, his boy, Sean Hannity, will deliver the keynote address at the National Republican Congressional--excuse me, the National Republican Congressional Committee fund-raising dinner next month. This is not a job for anybody on a news channel....
No actual news organization would permit its people, even its commentators, to assume such purely partisan political fund-raising roles. This organization, rightly, would not even let me address an ordinary non-fund-raising gathering of some Democratic senators. Those are the news rules. And if Mr. Ailes does no honor them nor obey them, as he never has, he should be relieved of any news responsibilities, or his employer should admit that he is purely a political operative. Roger Ailes of Fox, quote, "news," unquote, today's worst person in the world.
Yawn. Another Olbermann attack on the news channel that beats him like a rug night after night. But what does this have to do with Steve Capus? Follow...
Herr Olbermann insists that no news organization would permit its commentators to indulge in such vulgar political activity, even if they are clearly opinionizers. But wait. Wasn't that Harold Ford Jr, MSNBC commentator, speaking at a political fundraiser last year? And more than once?! Hmm, that doesn't make MSNBC News honcho Steve Capus look very good in Olbermann's eyes.
And didn't Joe Scarborough, MSNBC program host, also get involved in partisan political campaigning? Why yes, he did. And what's more, MSNBC signed off on it, stating:
Joe Scarborough hosts an opinion show and is not a news anchor.
Wait, isn't that exactly the same situation as Sean Hannity's? And isn't MSNBC taking the exact same position as Roger Ailes? It doesn't seem like that position has changed any over the years, since just a few months ago Joe was out speaking at another fundraiser. Apparently Steve Capus is violating Olbermann's "news rules"!
But wait, there's more. Edward R Olbermann claims MSNBC won't let its commentators get involved in partisan activities (despite the evidence of Harold Ford, Joe Scarborough, and who knows how many others). And yet, Keith is a regular blogger at Daily Kos, a website whose stated partisan purpose is to elect Democrats and defeat Republicans. And as for fundraising, Olby's been there, done that too.
So let's apply Krazy Keith's standards to the actions of his own boss. Steve Capus, who purports to run MSNBC (we know who really calls the shots), is permitting commentators to assume "partisan political fundraising roles", adopting the same position as Roger Ailes--something that "no actual news organization" would ever do. What's more, Capus is ignoring the Edward R Olbermann "rules of news", which means he should be "relieved of any news responsibilities".
The conclusion is inescapable. By the standards Keith Olbermann himself enunciated, MSNBC is not an "actual news organization", and Steve Capus should be fired. Yesterday, if possible.
Discuss, resolve, and then recap. Comments are open!
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts yet again to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
As the chart makes clear, Edward R Olbermann is a serious newsman, who doesn't fritter away his precious broadcast minutes on irrelevancies, petty attacks, or side-issues that distract from the important news of the day. Except when he does. Get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin...comments are open!
Olbermann Sinks to New Low with Repellent, Vulgar Cheap Shot
Just when you think the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has scraped the bottom of the barrel, he goes and proves you wrong. Well he did want Hillary Clinton beaten to death. And he did take on the aspect of a cheering section for women abusers by chortling as he called one woman a mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick. Those were pretty bad. Maybe this doesn't quite sink to that level of personal vitriol, but it certainly plumbs new depths of crass vulgarity.
Behold the ever-evolving ethical standards of (MS)NBC News. In reporting on a poll from the impartial Daily Kos, Edward R Olbermann put up a graphic purporting to represent the findings. Look and be amazed at what passes NBC standards and practices these days (screengrab via johnny dollar's place):
Now before the apologists rush to insist that this was merely a typo, a mistake that someone overlooked, consider the following facts:
ITEM: Keith Olbermann blogs at the Daily Kos. MSNBC provided him with a blog at msnbc.msn.com but Olbermann insisted that he blog at Daily Kos and subsequently the MSNBC blog was abandoned.
ITEM: Daily Kos is a site whose stated purpose is to elect Democrats and defeat Republicans.
ITEM: The poll in question was commissioned and published by Daily Kos.
ITEM: Daily Kos himself, Markos Moulitsas, appeared on Countdown in this very segment.
ITEM: The term 'Repubican' is a common (though incredibly juvenile) insult that is regularly used at Daily Kos. There are literally hundreds of examples.
Now it's possible that all the above are just mere coincidences. Olby just happens to blog at a site run by the guest he's talking to who did the poll where the graphic just happens to use a vulgar insult term that's a favorite of that very website. Yeah, uh-huh. And perhaps you'd like to invest in a perpetual motion machine.
Is this a new low for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann? Or just a typo combined with an incredible string of coincidences? Discuss, resolve, and then recap the last Hour of Spin of the week. Comments are open!
John Gibson Predicts New Owners Will Fire Keith Olbermann!
We're not sure about that, but you won't want to miss Gibson's devastating take-down of Olbermann and Alter's crotch-bomber analysis, and we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
Discuss, resolve, and recap! Recap Thursday's Hour of Spin here too. Comments are open!
January Chart Proves Keith Olbermann: Still a Liar!
We noted the words of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann before. At his blog of choice, The Daily Kos (no conflict of interest there for the "nonpartisan" Olby!), his writings still resound as preposterously absurd:
I read with astonishment here and elsewhere that I am guilty of never presenting conflicting viewpoints. Do you know what the easiest form of "good tv" is? Put two guys on who disagree with each other and let them yell at each other.
How many times is Edward R Olbermann going to prop up this flimsy straw-man defense of his one-sided reportage? You don't have to put two guys on to yell. You can put two guys who won't scream at each other. Hell Keith, you could just put one guy on who doesn't parrot your talking points. No yelling, no screaming, just a point of view other than the prevailing dogma of OlbyPlanet. But for some reason you won't do that.
I am pleased to be able to say that I've never put something on Countdown to toe a party line.
Yikes!
I'd rather devote the time to personally rebutting something else that has been let loose into the ether without rebuttal...
Hey Keithy, letting stuff loose into the ether without rebuttal...that's exactly what you do on your Hour of Spin. Five nights a week, 52 weeks a year (minus Bathtub breaks). And today's proof comes to us via the January guest list. We poured through the MSNBC online transcripts and tallied the data. Note that we generously regarded numerous appearances by the likes of Richard Wolffe-Man and Howard Fineman as neutral, despite their habit of bending over backwards to agree with Herr Olbermahn. But even with these tendentious "journalists" out of the mix, the results are still stunning:
Olbermann doesn't toe any party line, does he? None of that putting stuff out without rebuttal for him! Why can't he tell the truth? There's more rebuttal on Radio North Korea than on Countdown!
Discuss, resolve, and then recap the latest Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
The Olbermann Watch Research Division has again poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to notable stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: Friday not included as Countdown did not air.
Does it surprise anyone that the most important story on OlbyPlanet was James O'Keefe? More important than President Obama, health care, or Haiti! It's more of that trademark Edward R Olbermann news judgment. Get ready to recap another repellent five days of The Hour of Spin...comments are open!
More MSNBC Balance: Obama Q&A Re-Air with Commentary...by Three Democrats!
Tonight it will not be just one hour of spin...but two! The infamous, deplorable one joins forces with Democrat Chris Matthews and Err America alum Rachel Maddow for a 120-minute thrill-packed spectacular--in Obamavision! The President's Q&A will be rebroadcast by the Gang of Three, with special interruptions for their special comments. And as a bonus, no analysis by anyone who isn't in the midst of a slobbering love affair. That way no matter what questions the GOPers raise, or how the Prez handles them, the Gang of Three will be able to protect their guy and invariably get the last word.
Edward R Olbermann trumpeted tonight's desperate ratings ploy on his blog of choice, The Daily Kos (hat-tip to Inside Cable News):
We will be running, as they say, "large chunks" and then cutting back to the studio to see which one of our jaws can drop the closest to the floor.
No doubt this is a reaction to Herr Olbermann once again being trounced in the critical, all-important, vital, supreme "money demo" by the eeevil Mr Bill, who only beat him last night by 500%. Olby even lost to Nancy Grace on Headline News. So it was obviously time to try something different, and toss Rachel and Chris "I forgot he was black" Matthews into the mix as well.
But isn't this an abdication of MSNBC's news responsibility? Aren't they completely ignoring the Biggest News of the Day?!? How can Krazy Keith not devote the first 1/3 of his program to "Watergate Jr"? How will his phone booth full of viewers survive without another twenty minutes about the nonexistent "wiretapping" conspiracy that has dominated The Hour of Spin night after night?
Use this space to recap tonight's Pulitzer-worthy journalistic triumph. Or maybe you have something better to do, like watch The Factor or the finale of Dollhouse--either of which will provide you with far more redeeming social value. Whatever. Comments are open!
Shuster Declares O'Keefe Guilty, MSNBC Sends Him to Cover the Case!
Has every last vestige of common sense drained from the sinkhole that is A-Mess-NBC? Follow: Impartial hard-news journalist David Shuster went and exposed himself again on Twitter, screeching at arrestee James O'Keefe that he was guilty and was going to jail:
@DavidShuster: a) you are not a journalist b) the truth is you intended to tap her phones c) it's a felony d) you will go to prison.
Whoa. Isn't this something like deciding the case ahead of time, like declaring the defendant guilty before any testimony is taken, let alone a verdict entered? Well no, it's not something like that. It's exactly that! Of course it's nothing new for Slippery Shuster, if you remember one of his earlier Pulitzer-worthy scoops.
But there is another twist to the tale. How did MSNBC react when one of their alleged straight news journalists declared O'Keefe guilty until proven innocent? Did they smack him down, like they did to Morning Joe? Not exactly. In fact, A-Mess-NBC rewarded Shuster for his lack of objectivity and assigned him to go to New Orleans and cover the story. Cover the exact same case in which he just found O'Keefe guilty without a trial and sentenced him to jail!
Is this the kind of journalism that was pioneered by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley? The standard that Tom Brokaw stood for? Or does this mean the tendentious demagoguery of Keith Olbermann is now infesting even MSNBC's so-called 'straight news' hours?
If there's anyone who shouldn't cover a court case, it's someone who has publicly declared the defendant guilty ahead of time. And yet of all the 'journalists' at A-Mess-NBC whom do they pick for the assignment? The one who has a conflict of interest more glaring than a freshly buffed diamond tiara on the Bonevian Salt Flats at high noon. It's almost like Keith Olbermann is making the decisions at MSNBC. Oh wait, that can't be. Can it?
If MSNBC permits Shuster to cover this case as a 'reporter', it will relinquish any shred of respectability that may remain after all the embarrassments of Edward R Olbermann.
What say you? Discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's atrocious Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Note: In yesterday's ratings, A-Mess-NBC's primetime line-up finished in a dismal fourth-place in the all-important, nothing-else-matters, critical, key "money demo". Bill O'Reilly outpointed the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann by nearly five to one, and Olby even lost to Nancy Grace again. (No doubt Grace's increasing tendency to grab more of these viewers than Oralmann accounts for Keith's increasing tendency to attack Nancy Grace as he has done this week.)
Actually more than just one, but the only way to keep Keith Olbermann honest is to do it one lie at a time. On his Monday night program, Edward R Olbermann once again smeared his chief competitor and uber-Olbsession. Olby quoted Bill O'Reilly, the man who triples or quadruples his ratings on a regular basis:
OLBERMANN [quoting O'REILLY]: "To be fair, CNN has covered the Haiti story very well. There's no question about it. And I applaud the CNN correspondents who have done such a good job. But our Fox News correspondents are just as good."
OLBERMANN: Then why don't you put them on, instead of stroking yourself in front of the American public? Just once.
O'Reilly won't put Fox correspondents on the air to cover the Haiti earthquake? Not even once? Is that what you're saying, Keithy?
ITEM: The Factor debriefed Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan, who has been reporting from the ground in Haiti. "The biggest surprise," Harrigan said, "was driving around a corner and seeing fifty women and girls naked, soaping up on the street...."
ITEM: Geraldo Rivera, who was in Haiti over the weekend, joined The Factor with his reaction. "I was at the airport," Rivera reported...
ITEM: FNC's Jonathan Hunt, also in Haiti, expressed his personal reaction to the carnage. "The smell of death is hanging over large parts of this city," Hunt said...."
ITEM: Two parents whose daughters are missing in Haiti gave an emotional appeal for help on Wednesday's program. As promised, The Factor pursued the story with Geraldo Rivera, who reported from the hotel where the girls were staying. "This is a very melancholy place," Rivera said....
It should surprise no one that Keith Olbermann lies. Remember that we're still waiting for him to retract one of his whoppers from last week. So don't expect him to tell the truth about Bill O'Reilly. Ever.
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts yet again to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: Iraq reference count does not include Oralmann's ritual closing mantra.
Get ready to recap another dismal five days of The Hour of Spin...comments are open!
Keith's Olbermann's manic, embarrassing diatribe of personal attacks and name-calling against Scott Brown has been widelydenounced. But what about the truthfulness of Oralmann's harangue? A few have attempted a fact-check of Krazy Keith's polemic: Tommy Christopher rendered a split decision, but seemed to side with Olbermann on points. A commenter's detailed rebuttal finds far more Olbermann falsehoods than accuracies. But there is little disagreement about one key Olby assertion:
I said Mr. Brown was a supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees. Specifically, this past Sunday, when a man at a Brown rally shouted they should, quote, "shove a curling iron up Martha Coakley's butt," Brown responded by answering, "We can do this." Or, if that remark was unconnected to the shout, he never refuted, condemned, nor disassociated himself to the call for violence and even sexual assault.
Whatever you think about the other personal attacks in Olby's philippic, there is little room for doubt on this one:
Brown told reporters this morning that he didn't hear the remark, that it was "inappropriate" and that he would have "said something" had he heard it.
"This morning" refers to January 18. Two days later Keith Olbermann is still claiming that Brown "never disassociated himself" from the statement. That, dear reader, is Another Olbermann Lie.
We don't expect Edward R Olbermann to retract all of the disputed allegations in his tirade. The chances of that would be slim and none, given Keith's shoddy track record of correcting his many lies over the years. So we'll focus on this statement--one that nobody can defend.
Our challenge to Keith Olbermann: for once, man up. Grow a pair. Retract this lie tonight.
Reason vs Rage: A Tale of Two Commentaries - UPDATE: Project 21 Responds
Two analyses of the Supreme Court's McCain-Feingold decision. One lasts over 11 minutes. The other about two. One is a raving diatribe. The other addresses issues and facts. One is peppered with manic name-calling, personal attacks, and hyperbolic extrapolations. The other focuses on the US Constitution. Watch, compare, and then ask yourself... Which is real journalism? Which informs rather than inflames? And which is the work of a 'real news channel'? We report, you decide:
UPDATE: As they did with Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL), members of the Project 21 black leadership network are taking MSNBC talking head Keith Olbermann to task for his wrong-headed and offensive behavior in equating the free speech victory in the Supreme Court case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to the infamous Dred Scott case.
Deneen Borelli: "For starters, to equate a decision that gives people more freedom of speech to a decision that denied basic rights to blacks is offensive and wrong. Then there is Olbermann's assumption that the American public today is a flock of sheep. Unlike Olbermann, the Court realizes freedom of speech is under assault, and the American people can't be bamboozled by the increased participation of a few rich individuals or companies. I think the failure of Obamacare - despite massive spending by the drug lobby and unions to promote it - is proof of that.
"It also seems as if the pot is calling the kettle black. MSNBC is currently owned by General Electric. GE Capital was bailed out by the taxpayers. GE CEO Jeff Immelt is a close advisor to President Obama, and GE would profit from Obama policies such as cap-and-trade. Olbermann has served as a cheerleader for all of this. Are Immelt and Olbermann simply afraid to allow others to possibly gain the attention and influence GE has had all along?"
R. Dozier Gray: "The idea that Obermann would connect the infamous Dred Scott decision to this new ruling is appalling, though not surprising. Olbermann's comments are, at best, hyperbolic. In my mind, the two decisions are opposites. The Dred Scott decision denied rights to an entire class of people and their descendants. The Citizens United decision recognizes both the rights of individual and entities that they can use to amplify their voice. To bring up Dred Scott is to introduce race where it simply does not belong."
Red Eye Rips Maddow, Olbermann, and Media Matters!
It's a classic. Watch and enjoy, watch and enjoyers:
For your Hour of Spin show-prep for today, make sure to read Miami's premier tv critic, Glenn Garvin, who unleashed on the infamous, deplorable one and his minions in a scathing denunciation of A-Mess-NBC:
Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, positively enraged that Massachusetts dared to elect a Republican, delivered two hours of nonstop bilious rage toward the state's voters, calling them "irrational" and "teabaggers," engaged in "a total divorce from reality," and hinting that they're vicious racists to boot....
The network's coverage was idiotic, one-sided and downright ugly....
It may be too much to expect NBC, these days reduced to a national wisecrack, to be embarrassed over the frothing lunacy that passes for news coverage at corporate stepchild MSNBC. But both networks are part of the same news division. If news boss Steve Capus thinks his reporters can continue to appear with Olbermann and Maddow without suffering credibility contamination, he's dumber than whoever was behind the Leno/O'Brien late-night shuffle.
There's more...much more...so make sure to read the whole thing. Thin-skinned paranoid Oralmann has already attacked another tv critic for daring to question the Great and Powerful Olb. Will Mr Garvin be the next victim of another lying smear from Edward R Olbermann?
Don't be shocked that the protector of habeas corpus, Mr Civil Rights himself, Edward R Olbermann, thinks that the burden of proof is not on the accuser, but rather that people should be presumed guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. Because he got this logic from a highly regarded repository of intellectual thought:
Will Olbermann Pull Another Disappearing Act Tonight?
Olbermann on election night. You know what you're promised, but you never know what you get. Do you remember November? That's what Olby told us he'd have a special second live hour of Countdown at 10:00 pm. But fate intervened: Democrats lost two big races in New Jersey and Virginia. And come 10:00 pm what happened? Instead of a second live hour of Countdown, there was a brief update from "Crazy" Larry O'Donnell, and then A-Mess-NBC proceeded to rerun the 8:00 o'clock show!
And that's not all. Edward R Olbermann disappeared from the show entirely for several days. He claimed he was visiting his sick father, but MSNBC refused to confirm his story! And then those embarrassing photos of Olby at Yankee Stadium put the lie to Keith's tall tale. But we're sure his ill father (for whom we hope only the very best) appreciated being used by Keith as a fictitious alibi.
So what happens if Scott Brown wins tonight? Does Monkeymann stick around until 10:00 pm to spew more spittle at the camera (with or without his trademark pivots)? Does Crazy Larry have to rush in yet again? Or will A-Mess-NBC just rerun the 8:00 o'clock show, while Oralmann soaks in the bathtub? Since KO is starting to make a habit of coming in last place in his critical, all-important, nothing-else-matters "key demo", maybe a better question would be: does anyone care? Why should they? They're all watching Fox!
Whichever channel you watch, use this thread to post your comments on the election, the coverage, and of course the infamous, deplorable one. And we didn't forget about last week's chart either:
Olbermann Goes Paranoid, Lashes Out at Kos Writer for Criticizing Him!
Those hard-working MSNBC staffers haven't gotten around to posting Friday's transcript yet, so we can't prepare or weekly summary of keywords and topics. We'll give them one more day, and if it still isn't up we'll do a four-day summary instead. Meanwhile, enjoy watching Herr Olbermahn froth at the mouth. It seems a Kossack dared to print a criticism of Keith:
As if the human tragedy did not present enough drama by itself, Keith had to go fishing for more. Not once, but twice, he went beyond the facts of the story in a sad, transparent effort to drum up even more high drama and doom than the more-than-ample supply of tragic facts warrant.
Uh oh, this is a capital offense on OlbyPlanet. And it didn't take long for Edward R Olbermann to make his calm, rational, reasoned response:
You trolls are getting freakin' desperate. Is this to protect Limbaugh for turning this nightmare into an excuse for his on-air racism about this today? To cover O'Reilly for having done twenty seconds on Haiti in two nights (and the twenty seconds was spent devoted to bashing the President for not holding a news conference after Detroit as he did after Haiti)?
DKos is undergoing a full scale Troll attack, object, divide and conquer, muddy pools, etc.
Yes, if anyone dares to criticize the Great and Powerful Olb, they must be 1. a troll B. part of a Limbaugh plot against him III. part of an O'Reilly plot against him. d. an evil right-wing troll. Paranoia strikes deep.
Get ready to recap the first Hour of Spin of the week. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Olbermann loses his mind over the MA Senate race (via The Right Scoop):
Well, it's not like it'd be the first lie from the infamous, deplorable one. But if reports are correct, it would be one of the most audaciously egregious. On yesterday's Hour of Spin:
The conservative Web site RedState has a front page link for Haitian relief donations via the Salvation Army. The sites "National Review" and Town Hall and FOX News have front page links for Haitian relief donations by the Worldview Organization. SeanHannity.com has a front page link to Haitian relief donations via the Red Cross. RushLimbaugh.com has a front page link to a company that sells gold coins.
Wow, what a searing indictment from Edward R Olbermann. Unfortunately, it seems to have been a lie, according to multiple sources. Example:
Olbermann lied last night. Olbermann said that Limbaugh's site did not have a link in order to donate to Haiti-of course I checked it out and there WAS A LINK on the top of the page- and its still there.
Olbermann pointed out that RushLimbaugh.com has a CAPITALIST ADVERTISEMENT FOR GOLD INSTEAD OF AN AD FOR THE RED CROSS! After hearing Edward R. Olbermann create a bitch storm about how evil Rush is, I checked RushLimbaugh.com myself... and low and behold, the first banner ad deals with news and donations for the Haiti relief effort. Hey bathtub boy, you miserable piece of shit, it took me 30 seconds to check RushLimbaugh.com to figure out you were lying yet again. Does this douche even have staffers anymore who tell him he has a basic obligation to fact check before going national on "The Place for Politics"?
Did Olbermann just get caught in another lie? We report, you decide:
Get ready to recap the last Hour of Spin for the week. Comments are open!
Joe Scarborough Predicts Tonight's Countdown w/Olbermann!
Keep in mind that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann doesn't have much interest in actually covering news. Last night he was on the air live and managed to avoid coverage of the earthquake in Haiti entirely! But the story continues to grow so it's likely he will have to cover it tonight. And what do you know? Fate delivered to Oralmann the perfect hook to use his time attacking people he disagrees with (in their absence of course) instead of actually covering news:
Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson says Haiti has been "cursed" because of what he called a "pact with the devil" in its history. His spokesman said the Wednesday comments were based on Voodoo rituals carried out before a slave rebellion against French colonists in 1791.
Spokesman Chris Roslan says Robertson never stated that Tuesday's earthquake was God's wrath. He says Robertson's Operation Blessing group is sending millions of dollars in medication and relief workers to the country.
What do you think the odds are that Monkeymann will leap at this, and, well, pretty much forget all about the millions of dollars in aid? Joe Scarborough would say the odds are pretty good:
Hmm, now who in the world is the MSM ideologue that Joe is talking about? That's a real puzzler. Prepare to recap another atrocious Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts yet again to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. The results are unusually revealing. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: 'Crazy' Larry O'Donnell filled in for Edward R Olbermann on Friday. Iraq reference count does not include Oralmann's ritual closing mantra.
Who knew that the three most important news developments of last week were health care, George Bush, and Brit Hume?!? Get ready to recap another dismal five days of The Hour of Spin...comments are open!
Olbermann: CIA Deliberately Buried Crotch Bomber Intel to Embarrass Obama Administration?!?
First Oralmann tells us the crotch bomber was no big deal, just a schlub who didn't pose any real threat to anyone. But consistency is not considered a virtue on OlbyPlanet, so Krazy Keith goes on from there to suggest that our spy organizations deliberately buried the intel about the crotch bomber--knowing he could kill 300 people. Why? To embarrass the Obama administration! John Gibson has the details on the latest Krazy Keith Konspiracy...listen to the end as a genius caller takes it to the next level.
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has completed another year of Countdown, one that has solidified the show as the most biased program this side of Radio North Korea. An analysis of the MSNBC transcripts for the month of December reveals once again just how Edward R Olbermann prevents any dissenting views from entering his echo chamber on OlbyPlanet:
It is safe to say that no other news program in the free world is as severely and consistently cleansed of dissenting views like Krazy Keith and his Hour of Spin. Congrats, Bathtub Boy, on preventing your audience from hearing even one voice that disagrees with yours. But then again, what choice do you have? How else could you possibly win an argument other than by not letting the other side speak?
Discuss, resolve, and then recap The Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Remember When Olbermann Ridiculed the Prospect of Another Terror Attack?
The Hour of Spin may be into reruns and clip shows, but John Gibson has not taken a vacation from keeping an eye on Bathtub Boy. Listen and enjoy, listen and enjoyers...
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts yet again to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Get ready to recap another week of The Hour of Spin...comments are open!
Keith Olbermann Says Joe Lieberman Should Kill Himself!
You'd think this sort of thing would be over the top even for Krazy Keith, but no--there he is, saying that Joe Lieberman should jump off a bridge. Apparently that's within the Standards and Practices guidelines over at (MS)NBC these days. Listen as John Gibson lays it out, but don't skip the first part of this clip. That's where The Gibson Players do their world-famous dramatic readings from the blue blogs--paranoid, hate-filled rants against Sen Joe that set the stage for Edward R Olbermann's jaw-dropping notion that Lieberman should commit suicide. It's a clip for the ages, and Another Olbermann Watch Exclusive:
Discuss, resolve, then recap tonight's and Wednesday's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts yet again to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
As the chart makes clear, Edward R Olbermann is a serious newsman, who doesn't fritter away his precious broadcast minutes on sleazy tabloid stories. Except when he does. And it appears that Herr Olbermahn is starting to develop a bunker mentality. Here he is at his blog-home Daily Kos, reacting to someone who posted comments critical of Obama. Commandant Olbermahn suggests he's an "infiltrator", and goes along with the idea that his comments should be made "hidden" (so that they are invisible and cannot be read). Does that sound familiar? Hey, just like on OlbyPlanet, where opposing views are made to disappear! That's Edward R Olbermann, proud defender of the 1st Amendment. Get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin...comments are open!
November Chart Shows: Keith Olbermann Still Lying!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann continues to post at his blog-home, The Daily Kos (no conflict of interest there for the "nonpartisan" Olby!). His writings yesterday can only be described as laugh-out-loud funny:
I read with astonishment here and elsewhere that I am guilty of never presenting conflicting viewpoints. Do you know what the easiest form of "good tv" is? Put two guys on who disagree with each other and let them yell at each other.
How many times is Edward R Olbermann going to prop up this flimsy straw-man defense of his one-sided reportage? You don't have to put two guys on to yell. You can put two guys who won't scream at each other. Hell Keith, you could just put one guy on who doesn't parrot your talking points. No yelling, no screaming, just a point of view other than the prevailing dogma of OlbyPlanet. But for some reason you won't do that.
I am pleased to be able to say that I've never put something on Countdown to toe a party line.
Yikes!
I'd rather devote the time to personally rebutting something else that has been let loose into the ether without rebuttal...
Hey Keithy, letting stuff loose into the ether without rebuttal...that's exactly what you do on your Hour of Spin. Five nights a week, 52 weeks a year (minus Bathtub breaks). And the latest proof of that is the November guest list. We poured through the MSNBC online transcripts and tallied the data. Take a gander at the results:
Olbermann doesn't toe any party line, does he? None of that putting stuff out without rebuttal for him! Why can't he tell the truth? There's more rebuttal on Radio North Korea than on Countdown!
Discuss, resolve, and then recap Tuesday's and Wednesday's Hours of Spin. Comments are open!
The Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
John Gibson Previews His New Book (with an Entire Chapter on Olbermann!)
What is MSNBC up to? John GIbson worked there for years and in his new book he devotes an entire chapter to A-Mess-NBC's deranged hatemonger, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann! Here he is with Sean Hannity with a preview!
John Gibson explains for the uninitiated what we here at Olbermann Watch have known for years: the infamous, deplorable one has the worst track record of any so-called 'pundit' not just on A-Mess-NBC but anywhere in the known 'verse. Listen, enjoy, then prepare to recap Herr Olbermahn's post-speech Hour of Spin. And Wednesday's crapfest too! Comments are open!
It was a short work week for the infamous, deplorable Keth Olbermann, but nonetheless the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to various stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
Get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to key stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
Congratulations Sarah Palin! You are again the runaway winner--by far the most important story on OlbyPlanet. Who cares about unemployment, or Afghanistan, or Nidal Hasan, or that boring old economy? You can add them all up and Sarah Palin is still ten times more important to Edward R Olbermann! Get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. And Tuesday's too! Comments are open!
John Gibson: The Real Reasons Behind the KSM Trial
Gibby has a theory, and he tries to explain it to callers. And there's even a passing reference to the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, just to keep it on topic. Listen up, listen uppers, and then recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to key stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
Congratulations Sarah Palin! You are once again the most important story on Countdown--in fact Sarah Palin was more important than Afghanistan, Iraq, Nidal Hasan, Iran, Pakistan, and unemployment combined! It looks like Keithy has a krush on someone. Awwwwww. Get ready to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Flashback: Keith Olbermann's Love/Hate Relationship with Nazis!
Among the many videos that were purged from youtube when the Olbermann Watch account was nuked was this look at Keith Olbermann, so ready to pompously object to Nazi comparisons, and so eager to use them himself. Here's the post from February 3, 2008, and a freshly uploaded version of the video:
This is the same Edward R Olbermann who slammed Condoleeze Rice for suggesting that Saddam might have been like Adolf Hitler. The same Keith Oralmann who sermonized that such comparisons must be stopped: "There's no place for the reference in this culture. Not about the Republican tactics, not about the Democratic tactics, not about Guantanamo Bay."
Keep those words in mind. Because in his latest Special Education Komment, Olby does it again. Yes, he compares the Bush administration to the Third Reich! A more stunning example of Olbypocrisy could not be imagined. This video explores Herr Olbermahn's love/hate relationship with Nazism:
Edward R Olbermann spent Wednesday's Hour of Spin without reporting on Fort Hood, emails to Al-Qaeda, Hasan, or anything else that didn't fit his talking points. Because on OlbyPlanet, if Olby just decides not to report it, then it didn't happen! Prepare to recap tonight's propagandarama right here. Comments are open!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann couldn't be bothered yesterday to report on Malik Hasan or all of his contacts with jihadists and repeated emails to Al Qaeda. He didn't even bother to do a segment on the Fort Hood memorial. Instead, he devoted over seven minutes to grade-school vulgarities directed at Carrie Prejean. More of that OlbyPlanet news judgment. No doubt he'll have something really special for Veterans Day. You can recap it right here. Comments are still open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how what kind of attention was paid to key stories and issues over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
Hmm. An awful lot of coverage of Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann, and Fox News. Not so much about Fort Hood, which got relegated in each case to a non-leading short segment. In fact, on yesterday's Hour of Spin, Edward R Olbermann didn't even mention Fort Hood, with no reporting whatsoever on all the new developments regarding Nidal Hasan's background and troubling contacts. Truly, another Dog That Did Not Bark. Such is the vaunted news judgment prevalent on Olby Planet. We'll wait for next week's chart for a fuller spectrum of Oralmann's "journalism". But we pretty much know what to expect tonight--and chances are it won't include an apology to Peter Johnson for Monkeymann's repellent, still uncorrected smear. Comments are open!
Will Keith Olbermann Apologize for Smearing Fox's Peter Johnson Jr?
To understand how Keith Olbermann concocts his ritual character assassinations of people on his enemies list, one must appreciate the modus operandi involved. More often than not, Olby spots an attack in a blue blog, preferably a Fox hating one, lifts it without checking, contorts the content even further to suit his own agenda, and then for a big finish tosses in a healthy dose of name calling, ridicule, and personal attacks.
This week brought us an egregious example of OlbyCarthyism, one that appears to have had its genesis at one of David Shuster's favorite sources, Talking Points Memo. They excerpted a few sentences from a four hour program: an exchange the Fox & Friends hosts had with Geraldo Rivera regarding the Fort Hood massacre. The article links to, but does not embed, a snippet of video. But even this skimpy documentation was too much information for Olbermann, who attacked all three hosts by cropping things even further and just quoting their questions and ignoring the answers. Here he cites Gretchen Carlson:
CARLSON: Could it be that the military was exercising political correctness in not approaching him as seriously as they would have had he not been a Muslim?
Why does this question make Ms Carlson a "worst person" nominee? After all, MSNBC's employee Clift van Zandt made a similar point about political correctness, and just today NBC's own David Gregory asked a question that echoed Carlson's about the military missing warning signs. Will they be named "worst persons" by Olbermann? There was a lot more that Gretchen Carlson said--not merely the questions she posed (the job of an interviewer) but her own analysis--that Keith Olbermann neatly avoided telling his viewers about. Before asking that verboten question, she noted:
CARLSON: It puts any Muslim American in a tough situation here because by all accounts most Muslim Americans living here are living here peacefully. I mean, this is the extreme element--potentially--of this religion, and we don't know exactly if the religion was his motivation or not, or if it was the act of war, or that he went nuts. I mean, we don't really know right now.
There's no way Olby is going to let that be heard! Olbermann's distortion of Carlson is pretty bad, but his defamation of Peter Johnson Jr is even worse. Here is the quote as Olby cites it:
JOHNSON: You won't countenance special screenings for Muslim soldiers, will ya?
Olbermann attacks Johnson for this cropped quote as if Johnson were calling for such screenings. Again, neither Olby nor Talking Points Memo (which frames this statement as Johnson "grilling" Geraldo, as if they were disagreeing) bothers to note anything Johnson said before that interview, which just might shed some light on the situation. Here is what he said after a statement from a CAIR spokesman calling for Americans to remain calm because the motives of the attacker are not known:
JOHNSON: Well that's absolutely accurate, and it calls for restraint, and it calls for concern for fellow citizens. And obviously whether an assailant is Christian, or is Muslim, or is Jewish, is irrelevant.
What? How can that be? Olbermann wants you to believe Johnson is some sort of depraved racist! Well Keith did have that one-sentence quote as "proof". But even that one sentence has been falsified--doctored to change its meaning and intent. Here, in context, is precisely how the exchange between Peter Johnson and Geraldo Rivera went down. After Brian Kilmeade asked if there should be special screenings for Muslim soldiers, Geraldo disagreed. After Geraldo rambled a bit away from the question, Peter Johnson jumped in:
JOHNSON: You can't, you won't countenance special screenings for Muslim soldiers, will you?
RIVERA: You know, it's a hard--
JOHNSON: You can't. As a civil libertarian, can you countenance that, Geraldo Rivera?
RIVERA: It's a hard step for me to take, to countenance. This is an American born person.
JOHNSON: Yeah it is!
RIVERA: This is not a naturalized citizen.
JOHNSON: Right!
This is the exact opposite of what Olbermann claimed. Peter Johnson Jr was not supporting "special screenings". He was agreeing with Geraldo Rivera and arguing against them! But that doesn't matter to Olbermann, who slanders him as a "worst person" based on his dishonestly cropped quote. Par for the course on Countdown.
But wait, there's more. We haven't yet dealt with Olbermann's specialty: over-the-top insults and name-calling. In this instance it was to accuse Fox News of, among other things, racism:
OLBERMANN: Since we're asking questions, I have one for Carlson, Johnson, and Kilmeade. You guys ever wonder if you all succeeded inside a company like Fox mostly because you're not Muslim or black or Asian or Hispanic?
We noted above that Olbermann was careful to quote only questions, but not answers. This of course made it easy to strip all context from the discussion, but now we find there was another reason. Because the person the Fox hosts were talking to was Geraldo Rivera. You know, the fellow whose successful Fox News program beats MSNBC and CNNweekend after weekend? Now we're not sure, but we think Geraldo is Hispanic. You know, like Julie Banderas. That's the other reason why Olby avoided even mentioning Rivera. Because if he had, how could he wail that Fox News won't allow Hispanics to succeed? Oh that racist FNC! If only it could be more like MSNBC, where Hispanic anchors are plentiful. Why MSNBC is a veritable haven of Muslims, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics:
Keith Olbermann owes someone an on-air apology. Big time.
Red Eye Gang Plus Ann Coulter Beat Up (Figuratively) Keith Olbermann!
Greg Gutfeld and Andy Levy were filling in for John Gibson on the radio today. They got in some good shots at the infamous, deplorable one, then kicked it up a notch by bringing in Ann Coulter. It's perfect Friday fun listening, so listen up, listen-uppers.
Olbermann Election-Night 'Hospital' Excuse Starting to Unravel
It was an odd moment when the time rolled around for MSNBC's "special live edition" of Countdown on election night at 10:00 pm. Because show host Keith Olbermann wasn't there. A hasty pre-recorded Olby tossed it to Lawrence O'Donnell, who proceeded to update viewers on the elections for about 20 minutes, then a rerun of the 8:00 pm showing of Countdown was joined in progress. The first apparently official explanation from MSNBC or from Olbermann came from mediaite:
We hear Olbermann was visiting his dad in the hospital...
But why did MSNBC promise a live Countdown, if they knew they weren't going to air one? For that matter, why did Olbermann himself claim that he would be back at 10:00 pm?
Lawrence O'Donnell and I will be back with the latest on the votes in New York 23rd, Virginia and New Jersey at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific. Until then, I'm Keith Olbermann...
There was one thing that changed between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm: the Corzine loss in New Jersey. Keith already had to endure the victory of Bob McDonnell in Virginia, whose electoral chances he had previously dismissed with a sneering: "Good-bye, Mr McDonnell". He would then have to report another Republican victory at 10:00 pm. If he stuck around.
Was his father's condition so serious that he had to bail on his responsibilities at MSNBC and skip the 10:00 pm show? If so, there was a miraculous recovery because less than 24 hours later KO was merrily blogging at Yankee Stadium, snapping pics and cracking wise. Remember, Olbermann has a pattern of ducking his job when there's news he doesn't want to report. After all there's a reason he's called "bathtub boy". Just ask John Gibson.
Most telling of all is how flimsy and ephemeral the hospital excuse turns out to be when you look at it more closely. Mediaite's only reference is "we heard"...exactly what you would expect when someone is tossing out a BS excuse but doesn't want to get caught having done so. Why wouldn't Olbermann, or someone from MSNBC, say this on the record? To Mediaite's credit, they did try a second time. And MSNBC's non-response speaks volumes:
Mediaite's Steve Krakauer reported that he "heard that Olbermann was visiting his dad in the hospital, which accounted for his absence." When asked for confirmation of this an MSNBC spokesperson provided no comment.
Isn't it time for MSNBC and/or Olbermann to address this , and do it on the record?
MSNBC boasted that on election night they would present a "special live edition of Countdown" at 10:00 pm. But with bad news for the Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, a funny thing happened on the way to the bonus Hour of Spin. Keith wasn't there! After a live update (not from Olby but from Lawrence O'Donnell) A-Mess-NBC ("the place for politics") proceeded to rerun the 8:00 pm showing.
Keith had obviously left the building. But why? Where in the world was Keith Olbermann? We don't know yet, but we think we have a pretty good idea:
Around 10:15pmET, there was a commercial break, and the repeat 8pmET Countdown kicked in. It aired the rest of the hour. We hear Olbermann was visiting his dad in the hospital, which accounted for his absence. But that doesn't answer why O'Donnell or Matthews didn't fill in during the prime results hour. In the MSNBC release Monday, it was listed as a live edition of Countdown.
Update update: Does anyone really believe what is almost certainly an MSNBC leak, that he was visiting his sick Dad? Especially when nobody is willing to go on the record to say it's true? Keith announced at 8:59 pm that he and Larry O'Donnell would be back at 10:00. So what happened between 9:00 and 10:00 pm that might have sent Olby to the bathtub? Could it have been Corzine losing? Ya think? Will Oralmann show up tonight? Or will he end up at Yankee Stadium? That would be peculiar, if his dad's illness prevented Olby from staying at work past ten o'clock, but allows him to spend all night at a ball game. We'll know a few short minutes from now, and we're counting on you to recap tonight's festivities in this thread.
Update Update Update: Well Keith is just where we thought he'd be: Yankee Stadium, merrily posting one blog entry after another at tonight's game. So either his Dad made a miraculous recovery from just 24 hours ago, or MSNBC's PR line explaining away Keith's sudden disappearance on election night is even shadier than we suspected. Discuss and resolve. Comments are still open!
Great thanks to all the websites that linked to this post, including:
Um, Tell Us Again Who Is a Propaganda Arm of a Political Party...
The Olbermann Watch Research Division chuckles every time it hears someone on A-Mess-NBC attacking Fox for being a partisan operation, since we know there are more opposing views aired on any given hour of Hannity or The O'Reilly Factor than you will hear in a month of Edward R Olbermann. Having just finished one such month, here's the proof. We poured through the MSNBC online transcripts and tallied up the Hour of Spin guest list. Take a gander at the results:
Behind the numbers Democratic and Republican politicians: these are office-holders invited on Countdown for tough, aggressive grillings. Actually, that was a joke. Since they are all Democrats, they are trademark Olbermann blue-dress interviews. These included Ron Wyden (4 times), Anthony Weiner (3), James Clyburn (3), Alan Grayson (2), and one each for Maria Cantwell, Sheldon Whitehouse, Charles Schumer, and Sherrod Brown. Strangely, not one Republican.
Democratic and Republican strategists: These are partisan "experts" who have toiled in the partisan vineyards to get candidates of their persuasion elected. The big winner here is Democratic strategist "Crazy" Larry O'Donnell: ten appearances, either as a guest or guest-host. Plus we find Chris Kofinis (4), Howard Dean (2), Joe Trippi (1), and Markos "Screw 'em" Moulitsas (1). And then there were the Republicans: zero.
Liberal / Progressive vs Conservative / Traditional: These guests are not officially identified with party activisim but they appeared on OlbyPlanet to promote a political viewpoint. People like Wendel Potter (from the Center for Media and Democracy--two appearances), Shannyn Moore of Huffpo (1), Eric Burns of Media Matters (1), and so forth. We included three appearances from the National Association of Free Clinics, since they were present not to promote a philanthropic effort, but rather to hold free clinic events "in five key cities, in five key states represented by Democratic senators who have not yet said they will oppose a Republican filibuster of the public option." Yes, A-Mess-NBC organizing, promoting, and sponsoring political events to oppose Republicans and promote Democratic legislation. Gee, that sounds a little bit like, what would you call it, acting as the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party? In the interest of fairness, we didn't include the washed-up "comedians" and vulgar "entertainers" who also used their Countdown appearances to further Olby's partisan agenda. We have our limits, even if the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann does not.
Discuss, resolve, and then recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to important and not so important stories over the past week. Here is what our keyword searches found:
Notes: Olbermann only worked two days during this week. References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
It's a new week for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann and the start of yet another chart. Will Krazy Keith actually show up on a Monday? Does anyone really care? Do your part by recapping the longest 60 minutes in television--right here. Comments are open!
From his radio show today. Enjoy the mockery, and the inside references that true Olby scholars will understand--like the allusion to KarmaBites. Then use this space to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
John Gibson: Who's Biased? Fox, or Olbermann and MSNBC?
Gibson lays out the facts in one of his best dissections of the infamous, deplorable one. Maybe he'll be named WPitW tonight, an honor we're still hoping for here at OlbyWatch. Recap tonight's Hour of Spin right here. Comments are open!
John Gibson Blasts Keith Olbermann and the Fox Haters!
Listen and enjoy as Gibby again analyzes The War on Fox, and wonders if people who call Fox 'talk radio' have ever hard of some guy called Olbermann. And we haven't forgotten this week's Olbermann Week That Was: By the Numbers. We poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to various stories over the past week and here are the results of our keyword searches:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
Who will Keith Olbermann attack tonight? Post your predictions here, and then recap use this space to recap The Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Gibson: Olbermann Part of Obama's 'Pet Media', Does White House Bidding!
Listen as John Gibson paints the picture we know so well: Keith Olbermann as an extension of the White House PR office, dutifully avoiding the stories Obama doesn't want covered. Be amazed as Olby's parrot-like guests completely go along with him! Then use this space to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Listen and enjoy as Gibby analyzes The War on Fox, and wonders about MSNBC and its status as a news organization. And we haven't forgotten this week's Olbermann Week That Was: By the Numbers. We poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to various stories over the past week:
Notes: Friday's Countdown not included as it was a rerun. References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
Who will Keith Olbermann attack tonight? Will we get another "mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick", or something not quite so intellectual? The possibilities are endless: Fox News, Glenn Beck...Juan Williams would seem to be a likely target. Post your predictions here, and then recap use this space to recap the longest 60 minutes in television. Comments are open!
Gibson Defends Rush, Tells Caller 'I Never Worked for Olbermann'
John Gibson has a field day with another batch of clueless callers as he goes after media geniuses like Rick Sanchez and Dr Maddow for airing fake Limbaugh quotes. And there's a nice bit about our pal Olby in there to give it some OlbyWatch relevance. Listen, enjoy, then prepare to recap the last first-run Hour of Spin of the week. Comments are open!
A New Entry in Keith Olbermann's Misogyny Hall of Shame
On Tuesday night's Hour of Spin, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann did it again. In attacking Michelle Malkin, the new Edward R Murrow once more indulged his diseased psyche to unleash demeaning, personal invectives against women, referring to Ms Malkin as a "big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it". This is what passes for journalism on today's Peacock air. It has not gone unnoticed. Inside Cable News said "Yuck!" and noted:
Um, what's the difference between this attack and the "Ho-Pas" incident, which Olbermann subsequently apologized for even though he had nothing to do with that incident?
Liberal blogger Tommy Christopher, writing at mediaite (a website run by MSNBC legal analyst Dan Abrams), was also taken aback:
[Malkin] is not known for parsing her words, either. None of this, however, explains why Keith Olbermann would refer to her in such dehumanizing terms, even as he's decrying that exact behavior.
All this is nothing new. Olbermann's Misogyny Hall of Shame has been adding exhibits for years:
Olbermann deplorably mistreated Suzy Kolber at ESPN driving her to tears
said of his colleague Rita Cosby: she's "dumber than a suitcase of rocks"
laughed and joined in on a gross, creepy attack on Carrie Prejean
Even Olbermann's progressive allies recognize that there is a septic streak in Keith's soul when it comes to the opposite sex. TomPaine.com summed it up well:
So, to Keith Olbermann, who will be sternly moralizing into the camera for at least another four years, I have this to say: There is no excuse for how irresponsibly you are using your position of influence. The fact that you are a petty, disrespectful misogynist discredits you. You are not a progressive and you never will be, unless you drastically alter your attitude toward women. All of the brutally honest political criticism in the world does not make up for the shallow, sexist tripe you use to boost ratings. You, sir, are no Edward R. Murrow.
Is there any recourse for Keith Olbermann's many victims, male and female? Broadcasters have been censured, even fired, for much less. Yet Olby seems to be impervious to the standards that are applied to everybody else. Why not start fighting back? The first step might be to contact MSNBC and their news honchos to express outrage and request than an apology be made. But why stop there? What if Olbermann's victims demanded that they be given equal time--on Countdown, with Olbermann (not one of his stand-ins) present--to answer to the smears? Being allowed to face one's accusers is the American way. Every request to MSNBC, Countdown, and Olbermann should be made public. Every response should be published as well. Transparency.
What are the chances that Malkin, or anyone else who is a victim of Edward R Olbermann's vile hatred, would be permitted to face him on Peacock air and have it out? Slim and none--and Slim just left town. But seeing all the demands, responses, and rejections published online would make the effort worthwhile. All the world would know how morally corrupt MSNBC's news operation is. And as for Keith Olbermann? His cowardice and refusal to have on guests with opposing viewpoints--especially people he has viciously smeared--would be another vivid demonstration that he is more than just a misogynist. He's also a sissy.
Discuss, resolve, and then use this thread to recap tonight's unapologetic Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Chutzpah Beyond Belief: MSNBC Accusing Others of Bias!
John Gibson couldn't believe it: Olby Clone/Parrot/StandIn "Crazy Larry" O'Donnell complaining about media bias while hosting the most one-sided program not heard on radio North Korea. Listen as Gibby lays out everything that's wrong about the White House (and therefore MSNBC's) war on Fox, and explains it all to several highly confused callers. Good stuff, and the perfect appetizer for the much less nutritious Hour of Spin to come tonight. Use this thread for opinions, your Countdown recaps, and more. Comments are open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to various stories over the past week. Here is the raw data on what our keyword searches found:
letterman:69
palin: 55
baucus: 24
beck: 21
steele: 17
limbaugh: 15
fixed / fox (news): 8
afghanistan: 3
iran: 2
pakistan: 0
iraq: 0
zazi / terror / plots: 0
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
It's a new week for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann and the start of yet another chart. Will Krazy Keith actually show up on a Monday? Does anyone really care? Do your part by recapping the longest 60 minutes in television--right here. Comments are open!
Olbermann Watch has obtained this exclusive footage of Keith Olbermann and his team of analysts, writers, and sycophants doing last minute preparations for tonight's marathon one-hour Special Education Komment:
It's the eve of Edward R Olbermann's daring ratings experiment: his marathon Special Education Komment, set for Wednesday night, that will run not ten, not 20, not 30 or 40 minutes. It will run for a full-hour! Can you imagine all the Pauses of Significance? Just think of all the camera pivots: enough to induce whiplash! But for now we will have to content ourselves with the joys of anticipation, coupled with Oralmann's cleverly inserted plugs for tomorrow night's stunt, which will be ever so subtly placed at multiple strategic points throughout tonight's Hour of Spin. Do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division poured through the MSNBC online transcripts to see how much attention was paid to various stories over the past week. Here is the raw data on what our keyword searches found:
olympics: 62
palin: 61
beck: 38
iran: 23
afghanistan: 22
fox (news): 20
joe wilson: 7
iraq: 3
zazi / terror / plots: 1
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
It's a new week for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann and the makings of yet another chart. Do your part by recapping the longest 60 minutes in television--right here. Comments are open!
When the news about GE wanting to dump NBC-Universal broke yesterday, it found Krazy Keith trying to deal with the credulous groupies from his blog of choice. Edward R Olbermann led them to believe hey, it's no big deal. They're only talking about 20% ownership of NBC. Of course today it became public that no, it's not about a 20% share at all. It's about Comcast taking a controlling (greater than 50%) interest in NBC. Olby's notion that it was a mere 20% was either based on his own ignorance (why should anyone at GE entrust him with sensitive information anyhow?) or else a deliberate lie to spin things to his favor amongst the rocket scientists who populate the Daily Kos.
Today he's back at it again, this time posting a lengthy, convoluted apologia for allowing the dreaded Richard Wolffe back on Countdown. Oralmann is all but pleading with the basement-dwellers to give poor Richard another chance. Well, you'll have the opportunity to recap it all right heah! Comments are open!
Once again the Olbermann Watch Research Division has carefully analyzed the MSNBC online transcripts (it sure beats watching the infamous, deplorable one) to see how much attention The Hour of Spin paid to various stories over the past week. The results, as before, were interesting and revealing of the prevailing mindset on OlbyPlanet. Here is the raw data on what our keyword searches found:
Palin: 56
Afghanistan: 45
Joe Wilson: 34
Iran: 28
Glenn Beck: 21
Fox News: 13
Iraq: 6
Zazi / terror / plots: 0
In graphic format:
Notes: References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's the end of the week so let 'er rip! Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
Another night of deranged mendacity from the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Who will he smear? What lies will he tell? It's up to you to identify Oralmann's biggest liea of the night! Do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
The Olbermann Watch Research Division thought it might be instructive to pour through the MSNBC online transcripts (it sure beats watching the infamous, deplorable one) to see how much attention was paid to various stories over the past week. The results were interesting, to say the least. Here is the raw data on what our keyword searches found:
racist/racism/racial: 83
palin: 67
beck: 43
acorn: 7
iraq: 2
afghanistan: 1
Here it is in graphic format:
Notes: The references to ACORN were part of attacks on O'Reilly, Fox, etc. None represented any actual reporting on the ACORN scandals. References to Iraq do not include Olbermann's ritual closing mantra.
It's a rotten job but somebody has to do it. Use this thread to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Special bonus points to the recapper who identifies Oralmann's biggest Lie of the Night. Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann Pours Gasoline on the Fires of MSNBC's Race War
Tuesday was day two of MSNBC's campaign to fan the flames of racial division in the USA. Listen to John Gibson lay out how the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann eagerly played his part, then use this thread to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
John Gibson looks at Monday night's Hour of Spin to answer that question. Listen, enjoy, then use this thread to recap tonight's Meltdown. Comments are open!
What better way to insulate yourself against a week of the infamous, deplorable one than by listening to Glenn Beck make fun of him on national radio? We have the clip for your listening pleasure. Enjoy, then use this thread to recap tonight's intolerably repellent edition of The Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Gibson Replies to Olbermann Special Comment: 'You Got It Wrong!'
If the thought of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann lecturing anyone on "civility" isn't irony-drenched enough for your 9/11 weekend, how about Olby tossing in his own special brand of "fact-checking", that turns out to be...well, shall we say, somewhat fact-challenged? John Gibson explains it all. Listen, enjoy, then use this thread to recap the week's final Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
We know what tonight's dog that did not bark will be. So with that out of the way, use this thread to recap Thursday's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. We get a bonus tonight: Edward R Olbermann as impartial news anchor of the Prez's speech, and then Krazy Keith as deranged Kossack for an hour afterwards. Now here's a fun game. Let's take the official White House talking points (reprinted below courtesy of Major Garrett) and try to predict how many of these talking points will be echoed during tonight's 9:00 pm Hour of Spin? Comments are open!
Talking Points: President Obama's Address to a Joint Session of Congress Tonight
• When the President is finished speaking tonight, everyone who listens will understand that his plan has at its core two overriding goals: to bring stability and security to Americans who have insurance today, and affordable coverage to those who don't.
o The President's plan will bring reforms that will reduce the unsustainable growth in the cost of health care, which has doubled in the last decade and will continue to rise at that untenable pace unless we act.
• From the beginning of this process, the President has said that he believes reform should be bipartisan. And the plan he outlines tonight will be consistent with that goal - it will contain Republican proposals and Democratic proposals.
o So the Republicans will have to decide whether they are genuine in their wish to work in a bipartisan manner, or whether they will continue to vote against proposals they have said are key to reform.
• He will clearly lay out what health reform means to Americans - both those that have insurance now and those that don't. He will also be clear about health reform doesn't mean - clearing up the confusion that has been fomented by the special interests and defenders of the status quo.
• He will also answer the big questions about how to move the health reform process forward and make clear exactly what he considers real reform to be.
• It is important to recognize how far we have come.
o Four of the five House and Senate committees have marked up bills. Today Senator Baucus, who chairs the fifth committee, announced that his committee will move to markup shortly. Among those bills there is, essentially, 80 percent agreement, and each of them is in line with the principles the President has laid out.
• We are entering a new phase in the debate.
o Now is the time to begin pulling together the various strands of the bills that have been written and the solutions that have been proposed to create a final product that lowers costs, ensures that Americans cannot be denied coverage because they get sick, and provides access to affordable health care for all.
o As the President will say tonight, he is not the first president to take up the cause of health reform but he is determined to be the last.
• Members heard a lot from their constituents over August - including stories from people who are struggling with the rising cost of health care or who have been denied coverage because they or someone in their family got sick. One thing has became crystal clear to any member who really spent time talking to constituents last month: Doing nothing is not an option.
• After this speech, opponents of health reform will need to either propose their own plan or explain why they think it is best to do nothing while health care costs continue to rise 3 times faster than wage, millions of Americans continue to be denied coverage because they got sick, and insecurity continues to grow. In just 2 years, 1 in 3 Americans experienced a gap in coverage. What the President will offer the country is stability and security in our health insurance system.
On Gov. Palin's Attacks:
• Every non partisan organization that has looked at her claims say they are false. And the ideas in her op-ed are both scary and risky. Eliminating Medicare and giving our seniors vouchers instead is a bad idea that we shouldn't adopt.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. This is the show where the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann unveils his special snitchers' tipline:
Tuesday we will expand this to the television audience and have a dedicated email address to accept leads, tips, contacts, on Beck, his radio producer Burguiere, and the chief of his tv enablers, Ailes...
How exciting. Unless, of course, A-Mess-NBC is a little uncomfortable with Oralmann's tactics and tells him to put the breaks on, and Olby again defers to his corporate masters and forgets all about his snitchers' tipline. What do you think will happen? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
Join the Keith Olbermann Smear Campaign: Post Your Glenn Beck Dirt Here!
Keith Olbermann has put a bounty on Glenn Beck. Van Jones has quit his White House position and Edward R Olbermann will not let the unacceptable treatment of this 9/11 truther go unavenged! He wants all the investigative journalists who post at his blog, the Daily Kos, to send him any Glenn Beck dirt they can dig up, postulate, or concoct. So it's up to you, the loyal, patriotic readers of OlbyWatch, to pitch in and help Krazy Keith in his deranged jihad. Post your dastardly Glenn Beck information here. Since Olby reads this site, and gets his "news stories" from blogs anyhow, you know your scoops will be read by the infamous deplorable one. Comments are open!
Another night of deranged mendacity from the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. What lies will he tell? Who will he smear? Do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
It's a rotten job but somebody has to do it. Use this thread to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. You know the show with the "news anchor" who lies about his ratings. Hey Olby, when it comes to Nielsen numbers, size does matter, something Katy has also explained to you by now. Comments are open!
Enjoy this audio from Beck's Wednesday radio program, as he responds to Olby's fatuous claim that Countdown to no ratings is actually (perhaps on Bizarro planet) the #1 cable news program (thanks to Mike C for the clip!). Then settle back and prepare to recap The Hour of Spin. Don't worry about trying to figure out what dog didn't bark. We know Edward R Olbermann so well we can predict ahead of time the story that will get spiked by Herr Olbermahn. Enjoy Beck, and then grimace through an hour of the infamous, deplorable one. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Be sure to check out this report from mediaite, a website that happens to be run by MSNBC legal analyst Dan Abrams. Olbermann's claim about being the #1 cable news show in some impenetrable, never-before-seen demo? Guess what? It's Another Olbermann Lie!
Keith Olbermann Breaks "Tony Soprano Rule", Drags O'Reilly's Dad Into Latest Attack
Just when you thought Keith Olbermann could not descend further into his warped, twisted, misogynistic pursuit of ever-elusive ratings glory, he goes and does this...
In [O'Reilly's] nightly round of self applause last night, designed to drown out the echo of daddy hitting him...
At what point does someone at NBC/Universal stop to consider whether it is appropriate for a "news anchor" on its cable news network to launch personal attacks against a public figure's family?
Levin: Watching Olbermann Like Having Poison Ivy on Your Genitalia!
On his Monday night program, Dr Mark Levin responded to the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann's latest smear. Enjoy, then use this thread to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. And don't forget to order your Olbermann Sucks t-shirt, courtesy of zazzle.com! Comments are open!
An update on Herr Olbermahn's call for a boycott of Fox News, announced on July 1:
If there is a solution, it is perhaps an indirect boycott. It is probably your experience, as it has been mine, that stores, bars, restaurants, waiting rooms often show Fox News on their televisions. Don't write a letter, don't make a threat, just get up and explain, if they will not change the channel, leave the place and say calmly why it is you are taking your business elsewhere.... Fox News Channel will never restrain itself from incitement to murder and terrorism, not until its profits begin to decline, when its growth stops. So not so much a boycott here as a quarantine, because this has got to stop.
So how's Olby doing? Has he got the eeevil Fox News on the run? The power of Keith Olbermann and his societal influence is clearly demonstrated by comparing the Fox News numbers from June 1 with the latest ratings available (August 18):
Another night of deranged mendacity from the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. What lies will he tell? Who will he smear? And most important of all, what glasses will he be wearing? Ashleigh Banfield is still waiting for hers to be returned! Do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
OLBERMANN: The outrageous treatment of our injured vets.
GEORGE W BUSH: We owe our wounded soldier the very best care and the very best benefits and the very easiest to understand system.
OLBERMANN: Too bad they're not getting it....the embarrassing news stories of shameful medical treatment and crumbling facilities for badly wounded war veterans...It has gotten so bad that this week two veterans groups sued the government over how it treats injured vets, especially those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.... One lawsuit claims that the VA has a backlog of 600,000 disability claims....
vs Keith Olbermann on the subject of veteran's health care tonight, August 17 2009:
OLBERMANN: Today the President addressed veterans, a segment of the population that already receives public health care, and superlative health care at that....the President promising the vets that their excellent government provided benefits will not change.
What will make it into tonight's WPitW segment? Could it be this? Maybe, but we're placing on bets on this. It yanks almost every one of Herr Olbermahn's chains, and deservedly so. Read it now so you'll be prepared for tonight's Hour of Spin, then do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Lou Dobbs blasted Keith today, and yet Olbermann's Worst Person segment tonight had no reply. The reason is simple: Media Matters had helpfully posted all the previous Dobbs clips for him, but MM posted their highly edited clip too late in the day for KO to see it in time. And since Krazy Keith gets his material from MM, he didn't know about it! So for this weekend at least, Lou Dobbs (with a brief assist from Mark Levin) gets the last word on the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Keywords include: punk, despicable, clown, vicious, vile, wretched, psychotic. Listen and enjoy. And Keith, if you can't wait for Monday to respond, our comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's the end of the week so let 'er rip! Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is what set off the infamous, deplorable one tonight. Even though Dobbs never mentioned Olby's name, little Keith still whined about it and cranked up his attack machine. Now you can hear the full context of what Dobbs said, not the handful of sentences mumbled by Herr Olbermahn:
Beck/Gibson Tag-Team Take-Down of Keith Olbermann! Update: Dobbs Joins In!
The appetizer is Glenn Beck's sidebar shot at Olby. Then the main course: John Gibson examines the 'thugs' and 'mobs' who are protesting the Obama health care program. Gibby makes the case that the real thug is: Keith Olbermann! Be sure to listen through to the caller who challenges Gibby . Enjoy this delightful clip, then use this thread to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Lou Dobbs goes nuclear on Olby; Hat/Tip to Politico.
Olbermann Celebrates Return by Lying About Glenn Beck
There may have been a truce, but it never applied to Keith Olbermann lying. That's a constant as reliable as the rising sun, and sure enough he marked his return today by lifting a story from a blue blog, reporting it as fact without bothering to check, and then embellishing it with his own brand of reckless demagoguery. In other words, Another Olbermann Lie.
In his 'best persons' segment, he told the story of Nancy Genovese, arrested outside an air base taking pictures. Actual news reports, like Newsday, the Long Island Press, and the Southhampton Press, tell the straight story, one that would have been of no interest whatsoever to Oralmann. But the version he came up with was considerably juicier, and ripe for a gleeful attack on Fox. With the caption reading "as heard on tv", Olby cackled:
Proof that watching crazy man on tv will make you crazy... She apparently decided that the base was actually a secret FEMA detention camp. Do you know where she got that idea? From Glenn Beck. She says so on her myspace page.
The bigger question is where did Krazy Keith get that idea? None of the news reports says anything about her thinking it's a FEMA camp. Well you know Olby is devoted to his blue blog sources, and that goes double for his own blog of choice, the Daily Kos. And sure enough, that's where we find this:
Glenn Beck Fan, Highly Armed, Busted For Casing National Guard Base, Thinking It Was A "FEMA Camp"
Now did this Kossack have some inside information about the incident that eluded all the actual reporters on the scene? No, he found a mention of FEMA camps on the woman's myspace page. How does that turn into she thought the base was a FEMA camp? It doesn't. They made that part up! It was, as mediate reported, pure speculation. But hey, when wasn't speculation enough for Edward R Olbermann?
Wait, there's more. Her myspace page also had a video from Glenn Beck. Yes, "a" video. It wasn't about FEMA camps. But wait, didn't Olby claim that she admitted, right on her myspace page, that Beck said the airbase was a FEMA camp? Yup, that's what he said. That's the part Olbermann made up. Her myspace page has been locked, but all of the blue blogs that scoured it beforehand came up with nothing regarding Glenn Beck's views on FEMA camps. Zero. Zip. Nada.
In fact, if she watched Beck on tv, as Monkeymann's caption claimed, and if what he said affected her beliefs, as he also claimed, then Keith has some more 'splainin' to do. Because on his tv show, Beck has debunked the FEMA camp theory--not once, not twice, but three times! See the appendix below for video of all three segments (not including a fourth with Ron Paul, who also rejected this conspiracy theory).
So let's see...Olbermann claims she acted based on what she heard on tv--without evidence. He says she decided the base was a FEMA camp--based on nothing more than empty speculation in a blue blog. He adds that she got the idea from Glenn Beck--also made up. Finally he asserts that she admits on her myspace page that Beck told her about FEMA camps--blatantly and utterly false. Back from vacation, Rip 'n' Read Olbermann lifts another story from a blue blog, doesn't bother to check facts, embellishes it with more fiction, and belches out another red-hot, steaming Olbermann Lie.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Countdown: Olbermann Promises Special Comment, and a 'Surprise'!
He's finally coming back from two weeks of reporting in the field. The baseball field, that is. And he's already stirring up the Kossacks with a promise of a 14-minute Special Education Komment about healthcare, and a vague, amorphous 'surprise' concerning the so-called MSNBC/FNC truce.
What do you think the infamous, deplorable one has in mind? Will he launch another Howard Beale tirade at the eeevil O'Reilly? Start an extra-early campaign to prevent Mr Bill from speaking at Alexa next year? Or will he bow to his corporate masters and downplay his greatest Olbsession? Post your predictions right here, then use this thread to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
The final part of our Olby vacation thread continues on where part two left off. Post your comments about Bathtub Boy, his substitute hosts, or whatever and vote in our special weekend poll!
Part two of our Olby vacation thread continues on where part one left off. Post your comments about Bathtub Boy, his substitute hosts, or whatever. And we have a new song! Click on the image above for another audio tribute to Edward R Olbermann.
The Hour of Spin keeps spinning even when the infamous, deplorable one is spending weeks at a time in the bathtub. Your guest hosts this week include The Wolffe Man, "Crazy" Larry O'Donnell, and the one and only Dr Howard Dean. What, Markos wasn't available? Use this thread to post your show recaps or comments on other, more agreeable, topics. And click the image above for an audio tribute to the hard-working Edward R Olbermann.
If it's Thursday, this must be OlbyPlanet. Document the lies and smears of Monkeymann in tonight's recappers thread. Then move on to take care of Friday's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's the end of the week so let 'er rip! Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's up to you to document the spin and lies of Keith Teabaggermann. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
Gibson Needles Olbermann, Tangles with Caller from MSNBC
At least the caller claims he's from MSNBC. We report, you decide. Anyhow, enjoy this appetizer and then get ready for the infamous, deplorable one on tonight's Hour of Spin. Do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Olbermann Speaks, on the Subject of Michael Jackson
Yes, the infamous deplorable one is on an hour early tonight, covering the death of Michael Jackson. So what better time for a stroll through the OlbyWatch archives, for a few choice quotes from Keith Oralmann on the subject of The King of Pop. These are all genuine by the way, taken straight from the transcripts:
Is Michael Jackson nuts?...We turn as usual to our nightly recreation Michael Jackson puppet theater....
Speaking of oddballs, Michael Jackson has something to say about what happened to him while he was under arrest....
Michael Jackson. He has discovered a super secret conspiracy hatched by former associates to bankrupt the king of pop, it's hidden on the back of the Declaration of the Independence, too. All right, not the last part....
And Michael Jackson is rolling up new records for weirdest conduct in the shortest period of time...
Exclusively yours for the bidding, six--count them, six Michael Jackson Puppet Theatre stick puppets, the originals. No substitutes accepted here, please. There's Michael, the defendant, Mesereau, the lawyer--with the long hair--Sneddon, the cold man, Melville, the judge--yes, you don't recognize him--Bubbles, the monkey, and of course, the accessory, the comfy jammies. Each signed personally by me, and ripe for the picking, starting at the top of the hour on eBay....
And snakes not the only ones hopping a plane in the near future. There's also Michael Jackson. That's a segue and an apt one it is...
Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann: what a great choice to host Michael Jackson coverage! Recap tonight's Hour of Spin right here. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann right here. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What can we expect from the infamous, deplorable one tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
It's the recappers thread for tonight's installment of The Hour of Spin Hate. We need you to document the scurrilous lies and fruit-loop theories of the infamous, deplorable one. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Yeah I forgot to post a thread for tonight. So keep using this one. Soldier on, soldier onners!
Use this thread to recap The Hour of Spin, starring the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, and tonight featuring (no doubt) Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean, and some eeevil person from Fox. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann right here. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
A statistical note from the Olbermann Watch Research Division. Over the last three days, the numbers of times Herr Olbermahn has mentioned the murdered late-term abortionist George Tiller: 61. Same time period, the number of times Edward R Olbermann has mentioned Army recruiter Wililam Long, murdered on US soil by an Islamic terrorist: zero.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's up to you to document the spin and lies of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
Gibson: Why Isn't Olbermann Responsible for Murdered Soldier?
John Gibson asks the question of the hour: if you use applied OlbyLogic, why isn't Bathtub Boy responsible for yesterday's assassination of a US soldier? Ponder this philosophical paradox as you listen to Gibby lay it all out. Then get ready to recap the non-stars on tonight's Hour of Spin right here. Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann to Boycott Major League Baseball?!?
On Monday night the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann delivered a keyed up diatribe about the evils of Fox News in general, and BIll O'Reilly in particular. The illogic of his Kevin Bacon-style linkage of the killer of an abortion doctor to O'Reilly speaks for itself. We're more concerned with the logic, and logical implications, of Keith's call to action--a secondary boycott of anyone who dares permit FNC a presence in their establishments:
It is probably your experience as it has been mine that stores, bars, restaurants, waiting rooms often show Fox News on their televisions. Don't write a letter, make a threat, just get up and explain if they will not change the channel leave the place and say calmly why it is you are taking your business elsewhere.
One might wonder if that means Olby will no longer have a monitor embedded in his desk tuned to Fox News and O'Reilly that he can keep an eye on as he broadcasts Countdown, posts comments to Daily Kos, and bids on baseball cards. But there's an even more outrageous catering to Fox that goes far beyond a tv set in the lobby. And Olbermann himself is inextricably linked to it.
Ever since he began blogging for Major League Baseball, Krazy Keith has been reporting on his own visits to the local ball parks. Here, for example, he gives a tour of the new Mets stadium, complete with his own snapshots as illustrations. But now everything has changed. Oralmann demands a "quarantine" of Fox News. And this leaves him but one option.
Announced this week was the fourth annual Fox Fan Day. It will be held on June 20th at Citi Field, for a game between the Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays. This is no mere case of having FNC playing on a tv set somewhere. This is bringing Fox News itself into the ball park, live, in person. How else can it be described other than as a blatant endorsement for the enabling of terrorists and murderers? And it's done with the express written approval of the NY Mets and Major League Baseball!
For a person of intellectual consistency, for one who lives by the same principles he demands of others, for a commentator who isn't just a poseur and truly believes in the truth of what he speaks, there can be only one course to take. Don't write a letter. Don't make threats. Just announce (tonight on Countdown would be the ideal time) that if they do not immediately cancel this event and sever all ties with the murderous traitors of Fox News, then you--Keith Olbermann--are taking your business elsewhere. You will quit your MLB baseball blog. Turn in your season tickets. And never set foot in one of their tainted ball parks again. Anything less would be Olbypocrisy of the highest order.
We know that the Mancow controversy will be featured on OlbyPlanet tonight: he was waterboarded by someone who didn't know how to waterboard, then the Jerry Springer producer who set it up said it was really just a hoax. Mancow reacted by denying it was a hoax, while simultaneously admitting that, well, it was really a "simulated" waterboarding. Confused? Maybe that's the intent.
The infamous, deplorable one will not stand for anyone impugning his superb Edward R Murrow credentials as a crack journalist, and so he'll be bringing Mancow on tonight to tell us that yes, it is too waterboarding. Why does Mancow rant about the left taking advantage of this incident, and then sign up for a second appearance on OlbyPlanet? Just what is his endgame? By the end of The Hour of Spin will Mancow be screaming: "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!"?
Do your Countdown recapping right here. It's the end of the week so let 'er rip! Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
Zurawik Responds to 'Rabbit-Punching Swine' Olbermann
After being nominated in the 'worst person' segment, Baltimore tv writer David Zurawik has published his response. But Olbermann Watch goes the beyond the headlines to bring you Zurawik's comments on public radio from just hours ago, where he laid out in detail exactly why he has little use for the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Listen and enjoy, listen and enjoyers!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
Video: Red Eye Rips Olbermann and his Special Comment!
The Greg-a-Logue sets the stage, then the panel launches into another fun disembowling of Olby's latest Special Education Komment. As usual, Andy Levy gets the last word. All we can say is: enjoy!
John Gibson Smacks Down Olbermann Over Cheney Attacks!
Before you make this tonight's open thread to recap and ridicule The Hour of Spin, enjoy listening to Gibson destroy Bathtub Boy. Before he gets to the latest Special Education Komment, Gibby makes reference to this report from the Obama administration about how 1 in 7 released Gitmo prisoners join up with jihad again. Another Olbermann embarrassment. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's up to you to document the spin and lies of Keith Teabaggermann. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
UPDATE: Here's Oralmann's Special Education Komment in a dramatic reading by the OlbyRobot:
Is one of Keith Olbermann's most embarrassing moments about to be re-ignited? New readers may not be aware of Olby's unpleasant spat with one of MSNBC's own miiltary analysts, so here is a quick recap of the dust-up between Krazy Keith and Colonel Ken Allard.
It all began with another MSNBC analyst: William Arkin. He wrote an op-ed piece claiming that US troops are being given "obscene amenities". They should be "grateful" that they get any respect at all despite "every rape and murder" they commit. Soldiers hold the American people "in contempt" because our troops are "badly schooled". They should count themselves lucky: after all, they are not being spat upon.
Colonel Allard was astounded that such a diatribe would be penned by an analyst for NBC, and on Feb 7 2007 wrote a blistering column in response. Based on that column, he was invited to appear on The O'Reilly Factor, and did so on Feb 8. That was too much for Oralmann, who blasted both of them the next day, claiming that Arkin's bizarre tirade was legitimate, "valid criticism" of US troops, and dismissing Allard as little more than a ventriloquist's dummy!
This was the final straw for the decorated war hero. On February 15th Allard formally severed all ties with (MS)NBC, and cited Olbermann's attacks as a precipitating cause:
Not only were no apologies given and no pink slips issued for Arkin's outburst, but on his MSNBC show last week, Keith Olberman went out of his way to defend this "valid criticism" of our military.
What brings all this back to the front burner now? After over two years, Col Allard is returning to the airwaves. He will appear on this weekend's edition of the FNC program Huckabee, airing Saturday/Sunday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern. And the topic: according to the promos, he will discuss how he has been viciously smeared by the media. A New York Times article was specifically mentioned, but can a discussion of attacks directed against the Colonel possibly be complete without bringing up the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann? We will see tonight.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What can we expect from the infamous, deplorable one tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
Tank-Dweller Olbermann Covers Up for His Guy Again!
Wow. At least Rachel Maddow has the stones to criticize The One. She even gets a Countdown regular to help her out. But it's not like The Perfessor had a prior engagement, because as John Gibson explains, the infamous, deplorable one is so far in the tank for Barack Obama that when it comes time to cover his most recent flip-flop, well, what better time to change the subject?!?
After you enjoy this bit of fun, prepare to recap tonight's Hour of Spin. Are we taking bets for the WPitW segment? After all, someone dared to report on the real reason for Herr Olbermahn's strange three-day absence. Even worse, when Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann tried to rebut the story using the sympathy card, that little ploy got blown out of the water with photographic evidence! A bad night on OlbyPlanet fer sure.
This is the recappers thread for Monday's Hour of Spin. If you can stomach the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, post your analysis of his outrageous fictions right here. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What can we expect from the infamous, deplorable one tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
John Gibson Rips MSNBC's Ratigan on Countdown with Olbermann
Listen and enjoy as John Gibson picks apart new A-Mess NBC hire Dylan Ratigan's debut appearance on The Hour of Spin. Then use this thread to recap tonight's skulduggery from Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use our valuable bandwidth to document the deceitful spin and hateful lies of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin.Will Bathman be back or will his faithful sidekick Robin again fill in? Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's the end of the week so let 'er rip! Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It's up to you to document the spin and lies of Keith Teabaggermann. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. You won't see "Man on Fan" Olbermann until 9:00 pm tonight, so set your alarm clocks. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Somebody has to watch the 3rd place cable news show at 8:00 pm, and that sad duty falls upon you, the loyal OlbyWatch recappers. Comments are open!
Olbermann Eliminates Dissent...Even On His Baseball Blog?!?
We know how assiduously Keith Olbermann keeps opposing points of view from contaminating the Countdown echo chamber. But isn't it a bit much to apply the same heavy hand to a blog about baseball?
In his latest MLB entry, Olby responds to a reader's question. It appears that Mr Humility attended opening day with an unusual fashion accoutrement. He actually wore his Super Bowl press credential to carry his ticket to the Yankees opener, stylishly draped around his neck for all to see! Keith gave this explanation:
This refers to a photograph from opening day. That is not in fact a Super Bowl media credential around my neck. It is a Super Bowl laniard. Apart from the phenomenal price changes, the biggest switch in the new park is the number of times one is forced to present one's ticket. So I needed something to carry it in, and that's what I happened to have lying around.
Another questioned his wearing of a suit to the game, and Olby had a comeback for that too:
Frankly, the only times I've ever gone to a game in a suit, I was either doing a broadcast or a report from it, or, as it happened on opening day, I was heading straight down town to do my news show.
Apparently a commenter ("circuscatch") took issue with KO's responses, and a loyal OlbyWatch reader saved what he wrote:
Can't you even be honest in your baseball blog? In response to a question about your game attire, you state that you wore the suit because "...as it happened on opening day, I was heading straight down town to do my news show." In your show that night, you wore a black suit, not the blue one you are wearing in the picture. You wore the suit (and the Super Bowl press credential) to boost your fragile self-esteem. If you look important, you feel important.
The press credential response was just as ridiculous! You stated, "That is not in fact a Super Bowl media credential around my neck. It is a Super Bowl laniard." Look what's clipped to the laniard - a media credential!! C'mon, you needed something to carry your ticket in? I was also at the home opener and was asked for my ticket a grand total of one time. You must have taken several trips to the concession stand to require a laniard to display your ticket! You're not funny very often, but using a Super Bowl laniard (including the press credential) to carry an admission ticket is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Doesn't that expensive suit have any pockets? The Super Bowl XLIII laniard and media credential was what you "happened to have lying around?" Was it lying right next to your Cornell AG degree? If so, they were both on the front seat of your car.
The following sentence is in the article introducing you as a member of MLBAM: "Given the nature of his political commentary and the highly charged emotions of that crowd, Olbermann offered this advice for any fans eager to flame him on the comments of his MLBAM content: 'I don't care.'" Well, prove that you don't care and leave this post in the comments section...or were you dishonest with that statement as well?
As of this morning, the above comment has vanished.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What can we expect from "Chicken and Waffles" Olbermann tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is your recappers thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. But if you watch the video clip above, you may decide to forgo the infamous, deplorable one this time to catch the story that Mr Bill O'Reilly is teasing. Looks like a must-see Factor, one that will certainly impel Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann to whine uncontrollably tomorrow night. If you do decide to stick with Bathtub Boy, you can do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Audio: Inside GE Shareholders Meeting w/Tom Borelli and Glenn Beck!
Shareholder activist Tom Borelli gives a first-hand account of the rowdy shareholders meeting where stockholders berated NBC's Jeff Immelt over the embarrassment that is A-Mess-NBC:
It's the recappers thread for tonight's installment of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. Yes, he's back from that mysterious illness, the only known symptoms of which are attending baseball games and blogging about them all hours of the night. We need you to document the scurrilous lies and fruit-loop theories of the infamous, deplorable one. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is your Monday night open thread, but not a recappers thread--unless you want it to be. Yes, the infamous, deplorable one is out, and replacing Bathman tonight is his sidekick Robin (aka Slippery Shuster). So if you want to suffer through the teabag-obsessed Shuster you can do your recapping right here. Otherwise, treat this as an open thread. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
It's your Friday night recappers open thread! And to make the concept of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann a bit more tolerable, we have a delightful clip of Lou Dobbs as an appetizer. Listen as he goes after Krazy Keith, Goofy Garofalo, and that cesspool known as A-Mess-NBC. Then do your recapping of tonight's Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Make this your Thursday night recappers thread as you enjoy watching Joe Scarborough, ever so careful to protect his paycheck, clearly slam just about the entire primetime lineup on his own network! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
It's your Friday night open thread. Robin is subbing for Bathman tonight, so you don't even have to watch The Hour of Spin! Instead you can listen to Lou Dobbs who has a few choice words about the infamous, deplorable one. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for the Wednesday Night Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann right here. And don't spare the adjectives! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann right here. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
The recent (3/25/09) Keith Olbermann/Howard Dean/Fascism segment on MSNBC's Countdown offered an embarrassing, and to many, humorous, display of Mr. Olbermann's deeply entrenched hypocrisy. Now that the schadenfreude has faded, an examination of the, so far overlooked, underlying cause of such frequent episodes is past due because the obvious hypocrisy is but a symptom of a pathology which inevitably produces Olbermann's stock in trade, his modus operandi.
Let's take a close look at the setting for last week's manifestation of Olbermann's chronic condition. The March 25th Countdown began with a two-part segment, the first entitled, "Grand Obstruction Party." Jonathan Alter joined Olbermann to discuss, among other things, a speech given by Gov. Bobby Jindal at a large Republican fund raiser and minority whip, Rep. Eric Cantor's appearance on CSPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the administration's budget.
Olbermann played a truncated clip from Washington Journal of a female caller:
CALLER, "But what really is scaring the rest of us, the other half of us, is the fascism.
I mean, the true fascism that is happening in this country today."
CSPAN HOST, "What do you mean by that, caller?"
CALLER, "The belligerent takeover of a one-party system."
That was followed by a truncated clip of Rep. Cantor responding:
Now, as far as the one-party government in here, I think what the public is doing they're finally waking up and everybody is realizing that checks and balances are part of the system and dividing government is something that is beneficial to a balanced debate and something that can produce a better outcome.
FACT: At no time did anyone call President Obama a fascist. Rep. Cantor never uttered the words, "fascism" or "fascist." The caller never even mentioned the President, by name or by office. Although the caller did express a fear of "fascism that is happening in this country today," it was not directed at or disrespectful of any individuals, ergo there was no compelling reason for Rep. Cantor to admonish the caller.
Now here's where the illness kicks in.
During the Olbermann/Alter conversation following the clips, this exchange took place:
ALTER: ...whether it's a good idea or a bad idea, at least it's something big that they can stand on rather than name-calling.
OLBERMANN: And where is the individual credibility here? Thirty-eight million Americans saw the president's news conference just on TV last night; it doesn't count radio; it doesn't count the Internet. People are supposed to take Eric Cantor seriously about finance or about fascism or about anything when instead of even watching it as it happened, he's at a Britney Spears concert? You know, oops, they did it again?"
For the record, Rep. Cantor attended the concert as part of a scheduled Republican congressional fund raiser.
The second part of the opening segment was titled, "Fear and loathing as GOP strategy;" co-starring the new CNBC hire, Howard Dean. Mr. Olbermann introduces this conversation with:
OLBERMANN: The Republicans slapped anybody who questioned President Bush with--if not using the word treason, essentially the elements that make up treason for the better part of his administration, and yet we are now seeing this--I don't know--the sky is falling reaction to everything that President Obama does. Is there something of a double standard here or am I being a little--a little oversensitive?
Not only is the above a blatant lie, it is also totally irrelevant to the actual words spoken by Rep. Cantor (R-VA) and Gov. Jindal, (R-LA) which Olbermann completely misrepresents and intentionally distorts! Remember now, no one has called anyone any names. The two Republicans highlighted by Mr. Olbermann, never, not once, used the words "fascist" or fascism." There is a double standard and it clearly applies to and is applied by Mr. Olbermann.
Howard Dean's response to the bizarre intro ended with:
DEAN: So, you know, the Republicans are going to have a long way to go here if they--if this is their first tactic. They've got to figure out how to reach the moderate middle. And you don't do it by calling people fascists and all this other kind of business.
Which was immediately followed by this exchange:
OLBERMANN: So, is Jon Alter right, every time something like this happens, you and the other leaders of the Democratic Party sit back and try to stifle a loud, braying laugh?
DEAN: Well, I don't laugh at the Republicans because they were pretty effective in winning elections for a long time. But I just scratch my head and think, you know, what are they--obviously, polling does not tell you to call the president of the United States a fascist. So, they must be doing something very peculiar at the RNC. And I'm not sure what it is. But I think their problem is that they're just in disarray.
Followed closely by (remember, now, the caller never mentioned Obama and never called anyone a fascist):
OLBERMANN: Instead of--when that call took place on C-SPAN today, with the minority whip, Mr. Cantor, listening as this caller attempted to demonize President Obama and his agenda and throw every ism she could think of except Nazism, I suppose. The congressman certainly by proxy embraced her attack.
Certainly! Embraced an attack that never occurred, by proxy no doubt!
The remainder of the segment consists of the beautifully prepared, deliciously presented dish of crow, served cold:
DEAN: If somebody called President Bush really dreadful names like that," and "but he is the president and we are going to be respectful of him.
OLBERMANN: Or if you have a case to call somebody a fascist, lay it out, define your terms... at least put some meat on the bones. And just don't throw the word out, right?
DEAN: Well, look--I mean, even in the darkest days of the Bush/Cheney administration, I don't think there was any reason to call George Bush a fascist nor do I think it's--I think it's patently ridiculous to call President Obama a fascist. ...if you are in politics and you aspire to be the leader of your party, you can't let that kind of stuff pass because it diminishes you and it diminishes the Republican Party [or your own network] when you don't correct it.
As Howard Dean is quickly given the hook, Keith, ever the trooper, adheres to the maxim, "The show must go on," by closing the segment with, "The real problem for the Republicans though is not Obama the fascist, socialist Martian..."
At first glance, this appears to be a simple case of partisan pox, targeting the loyal opposition with lies, misrepresentations, distortions, and false accusations based on false premises. However, a closer examination of the next segment, titled "How will the Obama team pass the budget?" reveals a more complex condition. The real target of the Olbermann Syndrome is any dissent or criticism or even mild disagreement with President Barack Obama or his policies, regardless of the parenthetical party letter or network acronym attached. Case in point, one Sen. Kent Conrad, (D-ND), Budget Committee Chairman.
OLBERMANN: In our fourth tonight: The main event--the reason for President Obama's big publicity push, the battle over the budget, which if it fails to pass Congress, takes with it change, hope and 'Yes, we can'.
One of the main players, Senate Budget chairman, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, defending the Senate version of the budget, pointing out that it keeps Obama's big priorities alive. But as you'll notice, he says his budget makes them possible as opposed to say, makes them happen.
OLBERMANN: Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag, declared the Senate and Obama budgets if not twins, then at least blood kin. But the White House, nevertheless, is now e-mailing supporters to get them to push Congress. Liberal progressive groups pursuing the same goals: Move On with the radio ad, Americans United for Change is paying $700,000 for an ad pressuring Congress to back Obama's budget. The ad does not name names but if the gentleman from North Dakota, Senator Conrad, had any question who that ad is targeting, it will air in 11 states and in major markets in those states such as Fargo and Bismarck.
Is it possible that the host of Countdown, MSNBC's "news hour," that pays tribute to Edward R. Murrow at the close of every episode is attempting to intimidate a powerful member of Congress, who is also a member of the President's own party, simply because the congressman prefers a slightly different version of the trillion dollar budget proposed by the administration? Has Mr. Olbermann read the two versions of the budget? Does Mr. Olbermann have a monopoly on all the facts? Does Mr. Olbermann even have a grasp of all the facts? It appears he believes he does. Someone once said, "The man who sees absolutes where men see nuances and shades of meaning is either a prophet or a quack."
Every examination and test after test leads to the conclusion that Mr. Olbermann suffers from an advanced stage of an acute case of The Olbermann Syndrome.
Any thorough examination of someone must include a study of the subjects history. Since the March 25th episode is most likely Howard Dean's final appearance on Countdown, a look at his very first appearance might prove enlightening. This episode from two and a half years ago focused primarily on a speech given by the then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld to the 88th Annual American Legion National Convention. Once again. Mr. Olbermann utilizes the tools of his trade, distortions, personal attacks and outright lies, to falsely accuse Sect. Rumsfeld of, as he self promotes, "...a special comment on his attack on your right to disagree":
OLBERMANN: And about Mr. Rumsfeld's other main assertion of that this country faces a new type of fascism as he was correct to remind us that a government that knew everything could get everything wrong. So too was he right when he said that. Though probably not in the way he thought he meant. This country faces a new type of fascism, indeed.
Now, it needs to be made clear that Mr. Rumsfeld never attacked anyone's right to disagree, to dissent, to protest, to speak out against, or any other forms of the precious speech specifically guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, placed at the very top the Bill of Rights. The Secretary, speaking to the group of war-time veterans, called upon them to speak out against lies and distortions, to correct the record, certainly not to squelch dissent or to attack "your right to disagree":
RUMSFELD: Those who know the truth need to speak out against these kinds of myths and distortions that are being told about our troops and about our country. America is not what's wrong with the world. (Applause.) One of the most important things the American Legion has done is not only to serve and assist and advocate, as you have done so superbly for so much of the past century, but also to educate and to speak the truth about our country and about the men and women in the military.
For this, Mr. Olbermann chooses to vilify his target. He also puts forward a passionate defense of the people's and the press' right to question and to disagree with the government, adding the folly of someone believing they have "a monopoly on all the facts." August 30, 2006, Countdownexcerpts:
OLBERMANN: Back to Mr. Rumsfeld's remarks yesterday. Is there not something in them, though, that transcends political parties? Do we not need opposition and critics questioning policy, whoever's policy that is? I mean, during a Democratic administration, don't you want Republicans and media and citizens saying, Hold on, prove what you just said?
Special Comment
OLBERMANN: The man who sees absolutes where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning is either a prophet or a quack. Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet. We end the Countdown where we began, our No. 1 story with a special comment on Mr. Rumsfeld's remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday....
Worse still, it credits those same transient occupants, our employees, with a total omniscience, a total omniscience which neither commonsense nor this administration's track record, at home or abroad, suggest they deserve it. Dissent and disagreement with government is the life's blood of human freedom and not merely because it the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of his troops still fight this very evening in Iraq. It is also essential, because just every once in a while, it is right and the power to which it speaks is wrong.
Donald Rumsfeld, in concluding his speech, told the assembled group:
RUMSFELD: Your watchdog role is particularly important today in a war that is to a great extent fought in the media on a global stage, a role to not allow the distortions and myths be repeated without challenge so that at the least the second or third draft of history will be more accurate than the first quick allegations we see....
A soldier who recently volunteered for a second tour in Iraq captured the feeling of many of his peers. In an e-mail to some friends, he wrote the following, and I quote: I ask that you never take advantage of the liberties guaranteed by the shedding of free blood, never take for granted the freedoms granted by our Constitution. For those liberties would be merely ink on paper were it not for the sacrifice of generations of Americans who heard the call of duty and responded heart, mind and soul with 'Yes, I will.
Keith Olbermann chose to close his Special Comment in this manner:
OLBERMANN: Note, with hope in your heart, that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light and we can too. The confusion is about whether this secretary of defense and this administration are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek, the destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City so valiantly fought.
But back to today's omniscient ones, that about what Mr. Rumsfeld is confused is simply this, this is a democracy, still, sometimes just barely and as such, all voices count, not just his.
Although I presumption use his sign off each night in feeble tribute, I have no utterly no claims to the words of the exemplary journalist, Edward R. Murrow. But never in the trial of 1,000 years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other polarities thought they and they alone knew everything and branded those who disagreed confused or immoral.
Thus forgive me for reading Murrow in full:
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty he said in 1954. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who fear to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. And so, goodnight and good luck.
Well said Mr. Murrow. Well read Mr. Olbermann. But, were you listening?
Much has changed in the two and a half years since these two men spoke to their varied audiences. Donald Rumsfeld resigned from his post as Secretary of Defense shortly after the 2006 election that brought a different party into the congressional majority. Rumsfeld was replaced by Bob Gates who continues to serve in the cabinet of the new administration.
The new administration is the product of the historic campaign, election and inauguration of President Barack Obama. The war in Iraq has changed significantly, as President Obama told the nation recently in his 60 Minutes interview, explaining his laughter:
OBAMA: There's gotta be a little gallows humor to (LAUGHS) get you through the day. You know, sometimes my team-- talks about the fact that if-- if you had said to us a year ago that--the least of my problems would be Iraq, which is still a pretty serious problem--I don't think anybody would have believed it.
I can think of a few people who would have believed it, but Mr. Olbermann is most certainly not one of them. Perhaps a quick review is in order.
Olbermann, Aug 30, 2006, apparently being the prophet he spoke of earlier "...with a total omniscience, a total omniscience which neither commonsense nor this [reporter's] track record, [on television or on the web] suggest [he] deserves it."
Yes, two and a half years have brought much change; a new administration, a new congressional majority, a war in Iraq that can only be lost by intent, worldwide economic turmoil, and on and on and on. Yet, in spite of all this change, there remains a constant, the Olbermann Syndrome: a full blown case of hatred for anyone who voices any dissent against or disagreement with the current administration, hatred aimed at a rival with a more successful program on a competitor's more successful network, hatred spewed at anyone who disagrees with or criticizes the infected.
This is a contagious disease and it is spreading rapidly in certain communities. The specific contagion has been isolated; a particularly virulent strain of arrogant hatred.
Barring intervention and prolonged rehabilitation, the prognosis is not promising.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What blue blogs will Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann lift from tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
Another night, another Hour of Spin. Are we having fun yet? Hey Olby, when are you going to apologize for your Twitter smear? You might as well ask when the sun is going to go SuperNova. Document the outrageous lies and ugly smears of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann right here. Comments are open!
Yeah, it's another recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and ugly smears of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Olbermann Smear of Twitter and Fox: It Was Worse Than You Thought!
Major props to Caleb Howe for exposing just how ignorant and reckless Edward R Olbermann's ravings about The Great Fox Twitter Conspiracy really were. He interviews the man Olby fingered as behind the "conspiracy", researches all the Twitter accounts associated with Krazy Keith and The Hour of Spin, and concludes:
The incompetence that led to Keith Olbermann naming Twitter the "Worst Person in the World" is staggering. He smeared the popular service and a fellow liberal Democrat enemy of Fox News, because he got an email he didn't understand, about a technology he didn't understand, and neither he nor his staff did a click of research.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What blue blogs will Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann lift from tonight? How many times will he attack Mr Bill? Will he finally tell the truth about his Twitter account, or allow his lies to stand? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
Howard Dean Deliberately Embarrassed Olbermann?! (Thursday Recappers Thread)
Well, that's John Gibson's theory. Give it a listen and see if you agree. And Get Ready to Recap the Stars...of OlbyPlanet that is. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
Howard Dean Says Don't Call a Sitting President 'Fascist'--As He's Talking to Olbermann?!?
Did Dr Dean know whom he was talking to? We did, and this will serve as a little reminder to the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann that even his own guests think he is a sleazy creep:
Thanks to OlbyWatch regular ramjet who came up with the concept for this video.
Lots of news tonight (an Obama press conference, a new power grab of dubious legality) but Edward R Olbermann has bigger fish to fry. Tonight he will devote an entire segment of The Hour of Spin to his ultimate Olbsession. Watch the video below (it's unedited, unlike the ones that have proliferated on the blue blogs) as your show prep. Pay special attention to the second half and ask yourself how much coverage "Man on Fan" Olbermann will give to that portion of the discussion. Remember, the infamous, deplorable one begins an hour later tonight, but he'll still be up against NCIS and Mr Bill. (Do the math!) Post your comments on tonight's propaganda fest right here. Comments are open!
He's really from Cornell, you know.
Like he said on the Jay Leno Show.
But tonight Bathman's out,
Little Robin will spout,
While Keith soaks from his head to his toe.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What blue blogs will Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann lift from tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
The above video sets the stage for tonight's Hour of Spin. The AIG bonuses have been the topic on cable news, and particularly MSNBC, all day. The question is: how will the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann cover this story? Especially considering that Countdown fave Sen Chris Dodd has just admitted that he approved the language protecting those bonuses, and his own staff actually wrote the language? That after having angrily denied that he knew anything about just 24 hours earlier! Translation: Sen Dodd caught in a lie. This is a tough one for Edward R Olbermann. Does he call out Dodd for lying? Does he try to shift the responsibility to someone else? (Sorry Olby, Bush was already out of office.) Or does "Man on Fan" Olbermann discretely, delicately, completely avoid making any mention of the lie (the classic Dog That Did Not Bark)? See for yourself, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
John Gibson wonders when did Keith Olbermann become an authority on tough, hard-hitting interviews? Good question. Listen and enjoy as you prepare for tonight's Hour of Spin. We need you to document Monkeymann's lies and duplicity, so be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Blue Blogs Dramatized: The Cheney Interview (Monday Recappers Thread)
It's not hard to predict what the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will cover tonight. Cheney, Cheney, Cheney. Maybe he'll demand "Dick" leave the country again! Toss in the third recycling of the same story ("torture" at Gitmo: i.e. three terrorists waterboarded) and there's another block accounted for. Wait, the Simpson's made fun of O'Reilly? Olby can't turn that down. Of course we know what he won't cover. We're going out on a limb here and say there won't be a segment devoted to the Cramer/Stewart showdown. And if Bathtub Boy is bowing to his corporate masters to spike that story, then it's not likely he'll say anything about the anti-CNBC petition that has just been launched. Even though it's being backed by two of Oralmann's most reliable Blue Blog Sources: Media Matters and Daily Kos (Monkeymann's own blog of preference).
Since we know it's going to be a Cheneypalooza on tonight's Hour of Spin, why not enjoy a selection of dramatized comments from the blue blogs? These are Olby's sources after all, and now you can hear them without having to go through the repellent middleman. Use this space to recap tonight's show. Comments are open!
Olbermann Takes on Cheney 'Assassination Squads': Special Comment Coming?
Last week the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann went to town on his latest wet dream: Dick Cheney's "assasination squads". Olby got this notion from a talk given by Sy Hersh, and because that kind of thing is always too good to check on OlbyPlanet, Keith ignored the fact that Hersh, who claims documentation and evidence for his written word, is willing to embellish the truth and fantasize when giving a talk. As New York Magazine put it: "Sy Hersh Says It's Okay to Lie (Just Not in Print)".
Yes, this was Olby's Big Source for his grand expose on the evil Cheney. And if what he hear is correct, Oralmann isn't done yet. Apparently there may be a Special Education Komment in the works, and Caleb Howe has somehow got his hands on a copy of Monkeymann's script:
Mr. Dick Cheney, I direct tonight, sir, this missive unto you. So monumental is your, sir, guilt, that indeed I was not able to confine my commentary to a Countdown, nor even, sir, the very Special Comment portion of my show for which such acts as yours I first, indeed, the segment designed, sir! So forthwith I bring you tonight's "SPECIAL COUNTDOWN!" [Turn 180, camera 4. Look Angry!]
Olbermann's Masculinity Quotient: Now in Negative Numbers
You know there's trouble brewing on OlbyPlanet when his own blog calls him out. The subject matter: Jim Cramer and his ongoing flap with Jon Stewart. More to the point, Keith Olbermann's pointed avoidance of the story:
If this story is ignored, or given a light touch in passing such a Best Person in the World, we will know that even our best and bravest news shows have been significantly censored. We will know that Keith and Rachel are not free to report on the compormised state of television journalism in America.
Well, that's exactly what Keith did. He ignored it completely. (While on that other channel, Bill O'Reilly and a panel of financial reporters analyzed the debate, and what's more, came down on Stewart's side.) That shouldn't surprise anyone. Olby didn't mention Cramer on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday (he was off Tuesday). Why would you expect him to do it on Friday? Besides, TVNewser reported that the suits at MSNBC had told their producers to lay off discussing the Cramer/Stewart showdown. And of course they complied.
The Kossacks were so upset with Olby that Mr Humility felt he had to explain himself. And in true Edward R Olbermann fashion, he does so by attacking the writer:
Steve Krakauer ("SteveK"), is well known around the industry as being entirely in Fox's pocket. His "MSNBC producers have been told" not to mention this, is, frankly, bullshit.... Rachel could get the cover of Newsweek and he wouldn't link to it.... So, did Stewart do a good job? Obviously. Did we get ordered not to run it? Nope. Was stirring up rumors about a ban in the interest of a Foxophilic blogger with the credibility of a bush league Drudge? You bet.
Of course that doesn't make one minute of sense. And even the kommenters weren't buying it:
It may be bullshit, but the stats say otherwise. MSNBC was covering this "feud" during the day all week before last night, then suddenly went completely silent today. It's like hyping a big boxing match ahead of time and then not bothering to tell your viewers what happened in the actual fight.
To make such a big deal about it on Morning Joe for a week, then after last night crickets, something had to be up.
Boy was it illuminating that you didn't cover the Stewart-Cramer throwdown. Almost as illuminating as the many excuses you're here offering up as to why you didn't now.
The NBC families total blackout of discussion about it was the story of the day. KO should have done better. A word, a comment, a wink, anything would have been better than what he's given us so far...
I don't really care about a TVNewser post that said you guys were told to lay off. I didn't need to read that on their site because I could see with my own eyes as I watched MSNBC that you guys laid off the story all day long.
All you had to do was to rely on your own eyes to see that MSNBC had an almost total black-out of the story. And when you have almost a total black-out of one of the most popular stories of the day it doesn't take much to figure out that someone at NBC made sure to communicate that they didn't like the story.
But, Keith, my friend, you have so much time to zap Bill O'Reilly or talk about Rush Limbaugh billboards or allot another whole segment to your Worst Person in the World schtick -- a weekly recap to boot -- yet even 30 seconds to give a back pat to Jon Stewart for saying what needed to be said, especially when no one else on MSNBC (save a few seconds blip from Rachel) mentioned the story. This concerns us as your actions (1) creates some doubt in our minds about a possible NBC blackout on this story, and (2) causes us to wonder if Countdown just jumped the shark.
Olby's defense was weak tea:
I'm not going to publicize a Fox-controlled blogger at a low-volume site on national television.
Right. Because he never calls out "Fox-controlled" commentators, writers, or bloggers.
Our show is primarily about trying to give airtime to stories that are not on ABC, CBS, CNN, and Fox.
Say what?!? Has KO tactfully refrained from citing Jon Stewart in the past--when he's going after people not on (MS)NBC? This might be Keith's most preposterous claim since he asserted "I am not politically biased". To tell the truth, Countdown is the very model of modern pack journalism. As Politico reports blue blogs and partisan left-wing groups coordinate their targets, and Olby seems to have been one of their most reliable marksmen. When their conference call targeted Betsy McCaughey, so did Olbermann. When it's decided to make Rush Limbaugh the "face" of the GOP, Oralmann dutifully starts calling him "Boss" Limbaugh and hammers it home for seven straight days: March 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, and 12th (he was off on the 10th).
The truth is, despite all of Keith's attempts to explain himself, we already know that he's in the corporate pocket of his bosses. Remember the Imus flap? Another case where Olbermann was strangely silent for night after night...until after Imus was fired? Here's KO in his own words explaining why he said nothing about Imus all those years:
I'm constrained by a large degree to the fact that I work at the same place....We try to avoid shooting people on our side of the fence, whether we like them or don't.
Funny Keith, you didn't say that to the Kos kommenters. It would have made more sense than the drivel you tried to foist on them. In fact, protecting (MS)NBC bosses and KO's on-air buddies is one of the most consistent "features" of Countdown. Can you think of one time when any (MS)NBC talent has been named "Worst Person in the World"?
That's why we talk about Keith's Masculinity Quotient. The term springs from Olbermann complaining about the OJ Simpson book deal, and castigating O'Reilly for not opposing it. Of course that was Another Olbermann Lie; O'Reilly railed about it day after day, and even announced a boycott. But it's not that lie, but rather Keith's sanctimonious smear that makes the Olbypocrisy go to 11, as KO lectures the world about how important it is to take "your own network" to task:
If you are going to take such an I'm right and the rest of the world approach is wrong to everything, and especially broadcasting, you really do find yourself in a position of it being incumbent on you to take your own network to the same degree of task.... Bill just chose not to do it, which doesn't say much about his manhood.
Right now, Keith Olbermann's manhood quotient is looking pretty limp.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What blue blogs will Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann lift from tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
[Image courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter who published this interesting article about O'Reilly, General Electric, and the stock market.]
This is the recappers thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Use this space to post your comments on the latest egregious insults to journalism from Edward R Olbermann. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
No, you won't see the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann tonight. Bathman is out, and his faithful sidekick Robin will be hosting The Hour of Spin in his stead. Where oh where is Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann? In a seedy hotel room with a bottle of cheap Merlot and a disposable tie? Or cowering in his bathtub for fear that he might run into Gary Bernsten? Whatever the reason, Krazy Keith will not appear tonight. And for that we are literally, dreadfully sorry. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What can we expect from "Chicken and Waffles" Olbermann tonight? Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Will the infamous, deplorable one go four-for-four tonight in his continuing attempt to sabotage a charity fund-raiser being held to aid rape victims? When Krazy Keith is dealing with the greatest Olbsession of them all, anything is possible. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Countdown. Post your analysis of The Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin that emanate from The Face of the Democratic Party (aka Krazy Keith Olbermann). Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Red Eye Reams Olbermann, Garafalo for Racist Comments!
Great thanks to MikeC for the tip, and to Andy Levy for his dryly devastating final comments. It all happened on Friday night's Red Eye and we have the video for your viewing pleasure:
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. What can we expect from "Chicken and Waffles" Olbermann tonight? It's clear Olby should do another Special Apology, this time for his rip 'n' read smear of Gov Jindal. But we're going out on a limb: don't hold your breath! Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
If nothing else, Thursday night's Hour of Spin will be remembered for the day when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann defined racism. And, not surprisingly, that definition includes Olby himself:
MORE: Olby and Garafalo yuck it up about about how Rush is like Hitler, and Michael Steele is another "self-loathing" black man. Hot Air has the repellent details. Apparently the all-forgiving Oralmann has given Garafalo a pass for appearing on 24. You recall how Krazy Keith launched a jihad against the show for being "right wing propaganda"? It seems there is nothing "Man on Fan" Olbermann won't flip-flop on, as long as he can smear a few more people with personal attacks.
This is the recappers' comment thread for The Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
MSNBC: "Oh God" and Laughter as Jindal Began to Speak
It sure was a great idea letting Krazy Keith and his lunatic posse anchor hard news coverage, right? Listen as they groan "Oh God" and laugh as Gov Jindal begins to speak:
Politico sez it's Oralmann. We're not convinced. What say you?
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Countdown. Not only will be have the regular installment at eight, after that Edward R Olbermann will play an impartial newsman and anchor coverage of the Presidential address and Republican response. Yes, even though actual journalists find this prospect to be absurd and revolting. Then, a bonus Hour of Spin at 10:00 pm. The Obamavision lenses at A-Mess-NBC will be working overtime tonight!
Post your analysis here. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann: Worst Political Analyst in the World
It's pretty bad when Keith and his "expert" (i.e. Democrat) guest are both totally clueless, but that's par for the course on OlbyPlanet. Do you think there will be a correction and apology for getting it stupefyingly wrong yet again?
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Reality Bites: Olbermann's Special Comment Embarrassment (Friday Recappers Thread)
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. First, listen in delight as John Gibson takes a classic Olbermann Special Education Komment and forces it to collide with a concept rarely encountered on OlbyPlanet: reality! Then get ready to recap the lies and spin spewed tonight by Krazy Keith. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
Olbermann Readies Attack on Malkin (Wednesday Recappers Thread)
UPDATE: Our pre-emptive strike did its job. By exposing Krazy Keith's sordid history of Nazi slurs against people he disagrees with, we shamed him into not attacking Michelle Malkin on tonight's Hour of Spin. It's another victory for the power and influence of Olbermann Watch! The original post follows below...
It's not hard foretelling what the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will do on any particular day. Just check the blue blogs. Krazy Keith is as predictable as Pavlov's dog in a bell-testing factory. Tonight, you know he's going to attack the NY Post (cue the embarrassing Pirate accent) for a cartoon that portrayed the writers of the stimulus bill (note: not President Obama) as a chimp. But we think he won't be able to pass up a smear of Michelle Malkin, who had the audacity to be photographed next to someone whose anti-Obama sign used over-the-top Nazi imagery.
Now we know Olby's never shied away from such comparisons himself. To wit:
It was Herr Olbermann who hurled the fascism smear at Newt Gingrich.
It was Herr Olbermann who called the administration of "Mister" Bush an example of fascism.
And it was Herr Olbermann who likened "Mister" Bush's administration to The Third Reich.
So to smear Michelle Malkin for this photo would be a daring bit of chutzpah on the part of Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. After all, Merkle goes far beyond just appearing next to someone in a photo. He's an esteemed diarist at The Daily Kos. And you know how Olbermann's blog avoids Nazi comparisons. For example, like these:
That's just a sampling of what you can find at Olbermann's blog. So, will Olby ignore all that and still launch his attack on Malkin? Is Edward R Olbermann really going to go there? We predict yes, because Oralmann is so blinded with hate and self-unaware that he no doubt has forgotten all about this:
Watch for the moment of supreme irony when Olby pours the hate on Michelle, for allegedly associating with the sort of people Bathtub Boy has been cavorting with for years!
Use this thread to post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Countdown. Post your analysis of The Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
If you thought the big news from last night's Hour of Spin was Keith's pseudo-apology for his Rupert Murdoch quote, think again. It's what happened just before his weasly correction, where he makes the exact same mistake--lifting information from a blue blog without bothering to verify its accuracy.
The "apology" itself was pathetically limp attempt to blame a website (the one extensively quoted by Olbermann's blog, The Daily Kos) for the error:
Turns out SeekingAlpha.com got it wrong, Murdoch in fact said 'we've never been a company that tolerates fat.' SeekingAlpha.com has yet to correct or apologize for its mistakes, so we will.
That's nice, Olby. But how about apologizing for your own mistake: not even bothering to listen to the audio for yourself? Still, the supreme irony in all this is that just before this spineless self-serving apologia, Edward R Olbermann committed the exact same sin: lifting a story from a blue blog and presenting it as true, without bothering to fact-check or verify.
This time the blog source was Huffington Post, and to say that Keith did another "rip 'n' read" job would be like saying American Idol is an obscure tv show struggling to find its audience. You won't believe just how recklessly wrong Oralmann was until you read this meticulous blow-by-blow destruction from a physician/scientist who actually knows what he is talking about. A few quotes to whet your appetite:
Stick a fork in Keith Olbermann. He's done....
Olbermann let himself be played like a fiddle...
Kirby played on Olbermann's hatred of Rupert Murdoch, inducing him to embarrass himself so completely and utterly that I can never--ever--take Olbermann seriously again...
Because he hates Murdoch so much, Olbermann slimed an excellent journalist, Brian Deer, who brought to light something that desperately needed to be brought to light...
Olbermann lapped up David Kirby's talking points like a dog lapping up spilled gravy, and then let his emnity with Rupert Murdoch undermine what little critical thinking skills he has left by parroting nonsense...
Worse for Olbermann, he didn't even bother to check whether the key talking point he had been fed by Kirby, namely that Deer had made the complaint against Wakefield to the GMC, was in fact true....
If Olbermann can be so completely and utterly pwned by a propagandist like David Kirby, he is nothing....
Olbermann was completely wrong, and Kirby's claim that Brian Deer initiated the complaint is a lie--a lie that Olbermann mindlessly parroted.
To understand the full impact of Keith's pitiful performance, please read the entire article. It confirms everything we've been saying for years about Keith "Rip 'n' Read" Olbermann.
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. Supposedly Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann plans to correct one of his two lies perpetrated last Friday. Another demonstration of the Power and Influence of Olbermann Watch! Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has a track record of lifting stories from blue blogs and reporting them as true. Fact-checking? Verification? Not required on OlbyPlanet!
Olby's latest bit of rip 'n' read "journalism" happened Friday night. Olbermann Watch was first to report that Keith smeared Bill O'Reilly and Rupert Murdoch by rewriting what they said to fit his storyline. Bill O'Reilly did not state that NBC News is disgraceful, and Rupert Murdoch did not say that his company does not tolerate "facts".
It's not like any of this is in doubt. We linked to the video of O'Reilly as well as the audio of what Rupert Murdoch actually said. But Edward R Olbermann can't be bothered with original sources when he can just rip 'n' read from his own blue blog. Our research on this story was analyzed by the nonpartisan News Cycle, who concluded:
So, Olbermann Watch did indeed get it right, and Keith Olbermann and the Daily Kos, both of whom have advanced this story got it wrong.
You would think that having been caught yet again smearing people with false information, a responsible journalist would correct his error. Instead, on Tuesday night's show, Herr Olbermann doubled down. That's right, he ignored the truth and repeated the false Murdoch quote again!...
As Rupert Murdoch says of his own shop, 'We have never been a company that tolerates facts".
Maybe Keith Olbermann got this wrong the first time due to sheer incompetence in not fact-checking a story he lifted from a blue blog--all that was required was to listen to the audio, and he didn't bother. But to repeat a quote after it has been proven false, just to smear Fox News? That's more than journalistic ineptitude. It's outright lying.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Countdown. Our mole in the enemy camp whispers that tonight should be a banner evening for attacking Fox. Possibly because Oralmann's special 10pm countdown last night finished in a miserable third place, losing to both Anderson Cooper and by an even larger margin to Greta van Susteren. The infamous, deplorable one will be looking for revenge tonight!
Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. A-Mess-NBC has put impartial newsman Olby in charge of anchoring tonight's press conference. But tonight's Hour of Spin will not air until 10:00 pm. So we need you recappers to stay up late to see if Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann corrects or apologizes for his two lies perpetrated last Friday. (Don't hold yer breath!) Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Notes on Last Night's "Worst Person in the World"...
The bit on Rupert Murdoch served two purposes for Keith, since picking on one media organization's profits being down when all companies are losing money is blatantly unfair (with Keith admitted):
1. Keith wanted to brag that his and Maddow's shows were the only news shows that exceeded revenue projections. Which makes one wonder either how little faith NBC actually has in Keith and Maddow, or that NBC is lying about the expectations.
2. Keith wanted to read a quote from Murdoch, "Even on [finance] terms, we have never been a company that tolerates facts." Upon reading this quote, KO got as giddy as a college boy anxiously awaiting his first hand job, immediately declaring it to be the new Fox News slogan. So clearly Murdoch was probably taken out of context on this, but I haven't bothered looking up the original documents, nor do I really care at this point.
[For the record, Murdoch's exact quote was reported by the UK Independent. Murdoch was discussing cutbacks at News Corp: There would be "rigorous" cost-cutting, including job cuts. "We have never been a company that tolerates fat," he said, but added that this wouldn't be at the cost of future growth, should the opportunity arise. UPDATE: You can listen to the actual audio of what Murdoch said (something Oralmann didn't bother to do) here. The relevant portion is about 18 minutes in. --J$]
Bill O'Reilly was attacked for taking on Russell Tice. KO pretty much accurately described Tice's exchange with Jesse Watters, but Olby completely distorted the transcript of O'Reilly's comments.
Olby brings up that Tice told Watters to camp outside Bush's ranch and ask him these questions, saying "I love Russ Tice" (well duh, Keith, you brought the wacko on your show twice to spout his BS). KO doesn't care that Watters and O'Reilly were asking Tice to present the evidence of his claims, which he apparently doesn't have. Nor does Olby seem to realize or care that Russell Tice saying it happened is not proof of anything. Thus, Tice is basically saying "Go stalk Bush because I said these things happened."
KO reads this as O'Reilly's response to Tice after the video:
The bottom line on this is that Tice made some very serious accusations. He went on NBC News and he cannot back them up. Now if we are wrong he can join us at any time. But he cannot back them up. He is disgraceful and so is NBC News.
The bottom line on this is that Tice made some very serious accusations. He went on NBC news and he can't back them up. Now if we are wrong, he can join us at any time. But IF he can't back them up, he IS disgraceful, and so is NBC News.
See how KO's leaving out the word "if" completely changes the meaning of O'Reilly's statement? Olby doctored the quote to make it seem as if O'Reilly was declaring NBC News to be disgraceful in general, when O'Reilly was simply stating that NBC News should have to present proof when airing such wild accusations. Otherwise they are just muckrakers in the worst tradition of journalism. But we all know Olbermann seems to think he is above such ethical standards.
Olby also chided O'Reilly for saying Tice appeared on "NBC News" and not MSNBC. "Pay Attention." Yet O'Reilly first mentioned it as "NBC's cable news station," and later cited it as NBC news when talking about how they didn't challenge Tice on the accusations. O'Reilly skillfully never bothered to mention Olbermann's name, or show his picture in the clip, at all. Point to O'Reilly.
I don't know where Keith gets this delusion that MSNBC is not NBC news. The URL nbcnews.com re-routes to MSNBC.com
KO also puts forth that Bill O had the ulterior motive of stalking Tice because when asked about his interview on MSNBC, and given the chance to appear on The Factor, Tice insulted O'Reilly as a scumbag or something. KO ignores the obvious point, which O'Reilly made, that if Tice were so eager to publicize these wrongdoings about the NSA spying on Americans illegally, that he should be going on any news shows, especially the highest rated one on cable, to get the message out, instead of selectively choosing only the station and host that would be inclined to air his inane comments without a shred of proof or a hint of a challenge to his credibility.
It just means that Keith is showing no signs of dropping his personal vendetta against O'Reilly. The ratings sure do reflect that paying off for him.
Oh, and the Glenn Beck attack was about Beck saying the S-CHIP program was socialism. Olby repeated earlier attacks about Beck in promos for his new show deriding partisans who use the term socialism as an easy attack on Democrats. Olby then made several personal attacks, how there's no evidence Beck was using his brain, and that Olby believes Back may be crazy. Stay classy, Keith.
This has gotten old a long time ago. What great crimes did these people commit to be labeled the Worst Person? The other day he defended the New York Times against O'Reilly, who declared the Times wanted an agenda in which illegal immigrants could become citizens who could register as Democrats and ensure Liberal policies are enacted. Maybe even pure socialism. O'Reilly is completely correct in this, as this kind of social engineering has been happening far beyond the issue of illegal immigration. It's as basic as what is taught in schools.
But how does O'Reilly attacking the New York Times earn a status of WPitW? I can only think that Keith is in such agreement with the NY Times that he must defend them at all costs, and that O'Reilly's attempts to bring them down are an obstruction to his agenda, and thus in his mind are worst than an Al Qaida bombing.
So, they are WPitW because they disagree with Keith. And that in my book actually makes them among the Best Persons in the World.
We bring you these installments of John Gibson's Blue Blogapalooza because they are a window into the character of the "news sources" used by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. The netroots are in an uproar about Dick Cheney, and sure enough, Herr Oralmann is doing a Special Education Komment tonight on...Dick Cheney! Dutifully pre-pimped on Keith's blog, of course. So listen to the ravings of the blue blogs, then use this thread to recap tonight's ultra-excruciating edition of The Hour of Spin. Comments are open!
Olbermann's Latest Lie Is Going to "Get Him Into Trouble"?!
We know that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann cannot resist attacking people on his "enemies list", and the more sleazy and personal the attack, the better. Now one of broadcasting's most honored and respected professionals, Jim Bohannon, joins the chorus of those who see Keith Oralmann for what he is: a slovenly political hack.
Mr Bohannon had Bernard Goldberg as a guest on his radio program, and Marty C Davis (aka Chickaboomer) mentioned the appearance on her website:
Looks like maybe the MSNBC gremlins have altered Goldberg's Wikipedia entry. This morning Bernie's Wikipedia headline was the Keith Olbermann quote erroneously claiming CBS News had fired Bernie. Bernie was on Jim Bohannon's syndicated radio talk show Thursday night and Jim tells me Bernie was "steamed."
What?! Olbermann lie about someone? Shocker! But there's more, as Mr Bohannon himself weighs in on Herr Olbermann:
Bernie was on my radio show last night and I brought up Olbermann's "WPitW" citation. Having been on tour, Bernie hadn't seen what Keith had actually said. When Bernie noted that Olbermann concluded by saying, "no wonder CBS fired Goldberg", Bernie left the studio pretty steamed, indicating "he's going to get in trouble for this one". Why? Well Keith - You blew it AGAIN - (Lord, how many times now?). GOLDBERG WASN'T FIRED BY CBS. Keith Olbermann has got to be one of the lamest buffoons on the air in the last half century. He comes in just shy of "so bad he's good" status.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
Olbermann Gets Almost Everything Wrong in Latest O'Reilly Smear
Countdown: Wednesday January 28: Keith starts off Worst Person in the World with a totally wrong recap of the Jessica Alba-Bill O'Reilly "feud." KO says:
She now famously called him the hole word, and when Fixed News [Ding!] chased her for a response the network should 'Go Sweden about it.' By 'Go Sweden About it' she said she meant be neutral.
And KO adds that Bill fired back by saying she was "uninformed and a pinhead."
Seriously. Keith is actually going there?
Oh my, yes.
Then Keith reads from Alba's blog that "It's so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during World War II was Switzerland." Then Keith brings up Billo's mistake about Malmedy again. "Now proves to know less about the second World War than does the star of the movie Sin City."
Holy crap, this is like the Holy Grail of KO f-ups.
Let's start with the easy one. Alba was not the "star" of Sin City. She wasn't even in it that much. Try saying the star of Honey or Into the Blue. So KO proves he doesn't know much about movies.
Now, let's take a look at what really happened between Alba and O'Reilly.
O'Reilly sent his producer Jesse Watters to interview celebrities who went to Washington DC for the inauguration. O'Reilly showed two clips on his show. One was of Jamie Foxx complimenting O'Reilly and speaking intelligently about George Bush and moving forward. (KO doesn't mention this part of it). To contrast this for fun, O'Reilly shows the Alba clip in which she sounds like the total dunce that she no doubt is, and refuses to give a shout-out to O'Reilly because "he's kind of an A-Hole."
KO doesn't mention that Watters then asked Alba to clarify that statement and say what's so objectionable about O'Reilly, to which she stumbles upon an answer before settling on "if I answer that I'm admitting I watch Fox News." So she doesn't even watch the damn show, but she wants to open her big mouth and insult the guy. Which just goes to show you how far a hot body and no talent gets you in Hollywood. Then she does a little mea culpa about Fox being good to her movie-wise. Cuz who else would cast her in two crappy Fantastic Four movies. I mean really.
So, what did KO say?
She now famously called him the hole word, and when Fixed News [Ding!] chased her for a response the network should 'Go Sweden about it.'
ERRRRRR. Wrong answer, douchebag. So sorry.
The Watters confrontation took place I believe at the red carpet entrance of the Jan. 18 Declare Yourself event.
Later, as Alba and her hubby were waiting for a cab to go home, a different reporter started to talk to Alba, who turned on her cell-phone camera and began interviewing the reporter about what he liked about Obama. When he tried to claim objectivity wouldn't let him answer, she told him "Be Neutral. Be Sweden about it."
KO would have you believe she was telling Jesse Watters to be Sweden. But no. A simple Internet search shows the "Be Sweden" was directed at Nicholas Ballasy of CNS News, which is not Fox News, but it's conservative leaning, so I guess in Olby's mind it's all the same, right?
Then it was TMZ.com that first called Alba a "ditz" about confusing Sweden and Switzerland. And O'Reilly later showed the clip as well, which led to him saying she was misinformed.
So here we have two different clips of Alba, and two different segments on O'Reilly, which Olby would have us believe is just one clip (just one day after blasting Bernie Goldberg for supposedly parsing a clip about Tom Brokaw).
And here's what Keith decided to leave out about the exchange between Alba and Bill. Before Alba responded in Blog form, someone challenged O'Reilly on the Sweden neutrality question. And O'Reilly responded that neutrality is written into Switzerland's constitution, and that Sweden takes it on a case by case basis--and in fact has troops in Afghanistan.
So, Jan. 27, Alba posts her blog with the "it's so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during WWII was Switzerland" comment. Even though in none of the clips of her saying "Be Sweden" is she saying "Be Sweden from World War II."
It's so obvious that Alba, who by all accounts is dumb as rocks, was embarrassed and in an attempt to save face went to the Sweden Wikipedia page, found an instance of their neutrality in the past, and made up this BS about herself referring to WWII. So ... blatantly ... utterly ... obvious.
But it gets better. In their blind lust to sign on to any slam of O'Reilly, the idiots at Media Matters decide to pick up the story and side with Alba, which is probably how it crossed KO's desk since he obviously doesn't watch the Factor. And they start slamming O'Reilly for not knowing that Sweden was neutral during World War II, even though Alba never mentioned WWII in the clip, and clearly doesn't know any better. So Media Matters' sole basis for the slam on O'Reilly is the single-sourced blog of a Hollywood actress, with that single source being the actress herself, relying on Wikipedia, another journalistic no-no.
Which means Keith Olbermann and Media Matters have staked their journalistic reputations on the feeble-minded (yet hot) star of Good Luck Chuck!
And where did Media Matters get the story? Holy jeez, Courtney Hazlett's The Scoop column at MSNBC.com! (mistyped as MSNCB in the Media Matters post at the time of this writing).
My god. So her defense is making up a response to an argument that was never made, and then accusing those who called her out of not knowing what she meant by a comment she never said, and these dolts can't see right through that? Or is that style of debate acceptable now? Retro-historical rebuttals? It doesn't matter if what you said doesn't fit the facts right now. If it fit another time's facts, yeah, it's fine. I guess that paves the way for KO and MSNBC to just freeze their ratings at the one time they may have approached O'Reilly in total viewers, right?
It's like if I advertised a car with 10,000 miles, and the guy shows up and it has 75,000 miles. And I actually try to sell him with "It had only 10,000 miles at one time. That's close enough. Most people wouldn't buy that used car, but I guess the idiots at MSNBC and Media Matters would!
KO also doesn't bother mentioning TMZ's classic response:
She is absolutely correct. Sweden was a neutral country ... 60 years ago. We apologize for not considering the political climate of the world in 1942 when we suggested she may have meant, 'Be Switzerland' -- a country that is currently neutral.
Seriously, KO. Try doing some actual research beyond your usual crappy sources, douche.
By the way, Oralmann says Sweden's well-known neutrality must be evident as it made the popular culture as recently as the film Catch-22. Is that the same Catch-22 movie that came out in 1970. Nearly 40 years ago? That recently?
Olby's display tonight is just flat out embarrassing, incompetent reporting. Hope it's worth the $4 million, NBC!
I mean damn. It's crap like this that really ticks me off about the injustices in the world. Really, really ticks me off.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Countdown. Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Gibson Slaps Down Olbermann for 'Worst Person' Smear!
It's our Friday open thread for all you Hour of Spin recappers. What do you think the odds are that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will make some comment about our special feature. John Gibson strikes back after Oralmann named him in the 'worst person' segment. It's another royal skewering and we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
This is your recappers thread for Wednesday's Hour of Spin, with a special bonus feature. Hat-tip to johnny dollar's place for this revealing look at A-Mess-NBC:
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Countdown. Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
Here's tonight's recappers thread for The Hour of Spin. Rumors are swirling that the infamous, deplorable one might inflict another Special Education Komment on the world tonight. So we need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
The good news: thanks to a speech from "Mister" [Ding!] Bush, The Hour of Spin will be shortened, or at least delayed. The bad news: A-Mess-NBC is once again letting the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann anchor the news coverage. So much for objective journalism.
This is tonight's recappers' comment thread. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
Blue Blog Reactions Dramatized! (Tuesday Recappers Thread)
Recap tonight's Hour of Spin as usual. In addition, here is a special bonus feature. John Gibson rags on Olby a bit, and then presents Blue Blog Reaction to the President's news conference. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
It's the first Hour of Spin of the new year! That means tonight the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann begins his quest for a clean sweep of the 2009 Olby Awards. As always, we need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of Krazy Keith Monkeymann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
A new year means a time to look back and honor those who have achieved greatness in the year preceding. For that reason, we take this opportunity to reveal the winners of the 2008 Olby Awards, as determined by the Olbermann Watch Awards and Recognition Committee. With no further ado, the 2008 Olbies...
The Edward R Murrow Courage Under Fire Award Presented for conspicuous reportorial bravery under hazardous circumstances. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! For his remarkable valour standing up to the corporate suits at MSNBC and refusing to go to Minnesota for the GOP convention, where his life would be endangered by terroristic assaults and assassination attempts.
Olbermann - upset to be anchoring at the Democratic National Convention from an outdoor set near Denver's train station - "announced that his bosses [had] better find a more secure location for him to broadcast from at the Republican National Convention [in St. Paul, Minn.] or he's not going," one insider said. "He thinks someone will assassinate him." MSNBC had no comment. Even before he left New York, the biggest mouth at MSNBC was worried about his safety. When a car was late to take him to the airport, Olbermann threatened via e-mail to stay home, another insider told Page Six. The blowhard whined to producers, "I could have been attacked on the street."
The Golden Shovel Award Presented in honor of those who just can't keep their mouths shut. And the Olby goes to...
The Ted Baxter Rip 'n' Read Award Presented for the most memorably embarrassing bit of nonsense lifted from blue blogs and reported as fact. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! When it comes to Olby's nemesis, Bill O'Reilly, Krazy Keith just kan't help himself.
Why does Olbermann do this? Because he lifts his "stories" from far-left blue blogs that lie about O'Reilly, and either doesn't check or doesn't care if what they say is true or not. In this case, as the video shows, it was an obvious lie, but Keith doesn't care.
Biggest Flat-Out Lie About a Competing Channel Presented to honor those for whom telling the truth is secondary to a good smear. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! The video says it all:
The Karma Bites Award Presented to remind the mighty that what goes around, comes around. And the Olby goes to...
Only on OlbyPlanet would self-delusion this egregious go unchecked.
The Hal Turner Minority Outreach Lifetime Achievement Award Honoring the broadcaster who has done the most to perpetuate racial stereotypes. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! His infatuation with Nazi analogies and salutes earned him the scorn of the ADL, then he reveled in demeaning black cuisine. Keith reached another zenith in 2008, this time turning his attention to Hispanics. It wasn't enough that he contemptuously dismissed the Attorney General as a "houseboy". Oralmann had to add insult to injury with Gov Bill Richardson, cooking up a smarmy reference to guacamole that enraged Latino groups:
certainly an unfortunate use of words, and offensive to Hispanics
The Sleazy Partisan Hack Smear Job of the Year In honor of the most corrupt, dishonest, sustained, irresponsible attack of the year. And the Olby goes to...
It's never too early for Another Olbermann Lie, and the opening spiel is a traditional spot for the first one of the night. In fact, as you will see, we get three OlbyLies in just three minutes.
The He-Man Wimmen Haters Award Presented for the outstanding example of fantasy violence against a woman. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! It's not every day when you see a "journalist" calling for a Presidential candidate to get beat up...or worse:
What Keith Olbermann wants done to another human being is evil. It belongs with torture, lynching, and systemic rape. He is saying we should use physical violence against a political enemy to secure the outcome we want. He is saying murder is an acceptable act when done against a reviled outsider by those on the inside who know what is good for the nation.
The Foolish Consistency Award Presented for the quickest self-contradictory blunder of 2008. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! It's bad enough when you can't keep your stories straight from one day to the next. It's even worse when you can't do it from one hour to the next!
The Gepetto Award Honoring the most blatant servility to and parroting of talking points fed from blue blogs. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! First Keithy let the posters at his blog, Daily Kos, write his interview questions for him. Then Edward R Olbermann went the extra step, erupting in the middle of convention coverage with a screed against a real journalist, a screed that just happened to be fed to him by Kos Kaptain Markos.
There can be little doubt that when the Great Kos himself slammed Mr Babington's article, Bathtub Boy would be ready and willing to take the Kos talking points and spew them on Peacock air. Which he did just minutes after Markos published the attack.
The Do As I Say Not As I Do Award Recognizing the most egregious media hypocrisy of the year. And the Olby goes to...
Keith Olbermann! Not for his sneering reportage on Joe the Plumbers one tax lein, while concealing his own five (count 'em) instances of tax deadbeatery. Or Monkeymann's sanctimonious scolding about the use of Nazi analogies, as he merrily piles another one on top of his heaping mound. No, the ultimate in 2008 Olbypocrisy has to be when Keith Olbermann, with his own words, effectively made himself worst person in the world:
The Best Smackdowns of the Infamous, Deplorable One And the Olbies go to:
Mark Levin, John Gibson, Lionel, Howard Wolfson, the Red Eye gang, Old Grumpy Guy:
Best Parody of a Deranged Sports Guy Playing a Newsman on TV Award And the Olby goes to:
With the end of another year of Keith Oralmann's Hour of Spin, we really should recognize the high, and low points, of 2008. That's the purpose of the Olby Awards. What was Keith's biggest lie? The most outrageous example of Olbypocrisy? The meanest, dirtiest smear? The most egregiously biased report? On the flip side, who really came through with the sharpest, most devastating exposes of the infamous, deplorable one? Whose smackdown stung the most? So many possibilities, and so few days until the end of the year.
A good place to get caught up on the most embarrassing Monkeymann moments of this past year is our Olbermann Watch youtube page. Here you will find devastating critiques by Mark Levin, John Gibson, and many others. Plus our own videos catching Merkle in bouts of extreme hypocrisy, dishonesty, and downright stupidity. There are hours of viewing fun in just the 2008 videos (remember the racial slurs...and Olby's open-mic embarrassments?), and you can count it as research, so your rchoices for the Olby Awards will be as well-informed as possible.
GIve us your picks for the Olbies. Create your own categories if the standard award designations don't exactly fit. Comments are open!
There's nothing quite like watching the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann attempting to spin his way out of embarrassment, rewrite history, or otherwise mangle the ethics of journalism to protect his inept butt.
To understand what we are talking about, we consulted the OlbyWatch Research Division. They delved into the archives to dig out a story from last year. Yes, Herr Olbermahn "covered" the story in his peculiar fashion. And we have the direct quotes to prove it:
May 9 2007: The FBI claims it has broken up a plot to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey. The flaw, though, in the breathless reporting of the purported terror cell, the bureau infiltrated the six-person group after its members took video of themselves practicing with assault weapons, brought the tape to a photo store, and had it transferred to a DVD. The details of the supposed plot don't seem to hold together that well either, though that did not stop extensive and entirely credulous coverage on TV, the Internet, in print today... In other words, the FBI has arrested six morons.
June 4 2007: Officials of this country have revealed so-called terror plots at times that were just coincidentally to their political benefit, no matter how preposterous the actual schemes might have been, including a plot against Fort Dix, where pizza deliverymen were supposed to kill at will at an Army base full of soldiers...the authorities announce arrests in a far-fetched plan to attack soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey. The so-called terrorists planned to gain access to the base by posing as pizza delivery men.
June 6 2007: The candidates repeatedly referring to both the JFK story and the similarly dubious Fort Dix pizza delivery fantasy as ominous signs of the worldwide terrorist threat...
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: I think if the public says enough is enough, enough of the fear mongering. We've been down this road before. Remember, before the JFK plot we had the Fort Dix Six. And before the Fort Dix six, we had the Liberty City in Florida. And what has happened to all these plots that were endangering our lives?
We'd be happy to enlighten Arianna, and Keith, as to what happened:
Five Muslim immigrants were convicted Monday of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at a New Jersey military base in a case the government said demonstrated its post-Sept. 11, 2001, determination to stop terrorist attacks in the planning stages. The defendants were acquitted of attempted murder charges but face life in prison for conspiring to kill military personnel. The federal jury spent about 38 hours deliberating over the past six days.
The men lived in and around Philadelphia for years. The government said after their 2007 arrest that an attack had been imminent and that the case underscored the dangers of terrorist plots hatched on U.S. soil.... Convicted were: Jordanian-born cab driver Mohamad Shnewer; Turkish-born convenience store clerk Serdar Tatar; and brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka, ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, who had a roofing business. A sixth man arrested and charged only with gun offenses pleaded guilty earlier.
If Olbermoronn reports this news, it reveals his previous inane banter for the buffoonery that it is. Does he spike the story and pretend the convictions never happened? Or twist it around and claim the innocent "morons" are political prisoners and should be released? Or does he take the courageous step of not even showing up for work today? Perhaps he will admit he was wrong and...strike that, ain't gonna happen. It's our Monday night thread, open early so that we can all enjoy the anticipation of tonight's inevitable Great Moment in Olbypocrisy.
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's open thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
Gutfeld on Red Eye Blasts Olbermann's 'Homoerotic' Obsession with O'Reilly
When the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann attacked Red Eye the other night, we knew the blowback would be coming. Host Greg Gutfeld delivered the smackdown, and ombudsman Andy Levy followed up with a few parting shots:
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
Dramatic Readings: Blue Blog Blago Blowback! (Wed Recappers Thread)
Yes this is your Wednesday thread to recap The Hour of Spin. But tonight we have a special bonus: dramatic readings from the blue blog outrage over the Blago scandal! Since we know the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann uses blue blogs as news sources, consider this a window into the sort of diseased dementia that informs Monkeymann's 'newscast' night after night...
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's open thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Keith Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for tonight's Hour of Spin.It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, October 28 2008. Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
It's bad enough when you can't keep your stories straight from one day to the next. But with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann, he can't keep his stories straight from Monday morning to Monday night!
This is tonight's open thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
This is tonight's open thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
This is tonight's open thread for your comments and recapping of The Hour of Spin. The infamous, deplorable one has been busy over at his blog. A post appeared that actually criticized Krazy Keith's Olbsession with Mr Bill O'Reilly. So naturally Merkle had to respond, even if in an utterly incomprehensible fashion.
But wait, there's more! Perhaps to change the subject away from the offending column, Bathtub Boy whips up a post of his own, and stokes the fires with additional comments like this one--just as incomprehensible as ever (his basic point: I'm neutral so I won't vote, unless I decide that I will...don't try to make sense out of it, it's OlbyLogic).
So enjoy tonight's Hour of Spin, if you dare. Comments are open!
Opie and Anthony Savage Keith Olbermann! (Thursday Recappers Thread)
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, November 13 2008. You can post your reactions to tonight's Hour of Spin, but we have something special for you to enjoy (courtesy of MikeC).
Opie and Anthony deliver a scathing vivisection of Keith Oralmann's latest Special Education Komment. Warning: the language is R-rated, at least. In two parts:
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, November 11 2008. We need you, the clear-headed readers of the #1 Olbermann blog in the world, to document Krazy Keith's diseased rantings for posterity.
If you want a pre-show laugh, or perhaps it might be more appropriately said a pre-show gag-inducing bit of self-congratulations from the most narcissistic egotist on television, check out Bathtub Boy's latest drivel over at his favorite blog, Ye Olde Daily Kos. It's another round of Jimmy Legs almost breaking a bone in his arm as he twists and contorts to yet again pack himself on the back.
But we digress. Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
This is tonight's open thread for tonight's Hour of Spin. We need you to document the outrageous lies and vertiginous spin of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Watch Oralmann if you dare, and do your recapping right here. Comments are open!
John Gibson on MSNBC's Journalistic Standards (Friday Recappers Thread)
Warning: the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is pimping his show again, trying to get his sinking ratings back in order. At Oralmann's blog (Daily Kos) Merkle is doing his best to pump up interest in an exciting new feature tonight: a Sarah Palin attack! Just for a change.
Our clear-headed readers will undoubtedly find this much more edifying:
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, November 6 2008. Post your comments on tonight's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open!
We've been telling you for years, but now the newest miracle of high-tech science proves it! As the newly-launched Real Scoop explains:
RealScoop rates the believability of statements made by celebrities, athletes and politicians. Our BELIEVABILITY METER™ utilizes the world's leading voice analysis technology to analyze over 100 vocal elements. Be the first to uncover the RealScoop as the BELIEVABILITY METER™ displays color coded results from left to right with the most believable statements in green and turning to red as they become more questionable.
Watch the meters as the last shreds of Keith Oralmann's credibility circle the drain:
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, November 5 2008. Post your comments on tonight's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
Is the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann cracking up? Just when you thought Krazy Legs couldn't embarrass himself any further, he proves you wrong. Politico reporting that Bathtub Boy somehow got wind of the fact that Saturday Night Live was going to lampoon him on tomorrow night's show. That was all Krazy Keith had to hear. He lurked outside the building, then snuck in, slipped past security, and furtively made his way onto the set where the cast was in rehearsal!
Yep, Edward R Olbermann just had to see the skit ahead of time. Reports are that it is "savage", portraying Olby as a deranged lunatic living at home with his mother. Oralmann's flack says he is happy with it. Yeah, right, and chickens have lips.
Maybe he'll mention this latest embarrassment tonight on The Hour of Spin. Or maybe not. There just isn't the time with all the Palin/McCain smears that have to be squeezed in.
This is the recappers' thread for Countdown, October 30 2008. Post your comments on tonight's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
UPDATE: Dennis Prager replies to Keith Olbermann's WPitW slur [mp3 audio]:
Here's your open thread for tonight's Obamarama. Not only will A-Mess-NBC abandon any pretense of journalistic ethics and broadcast the Obamamercial at 8:00 pm, followed by a half-hour of Bathtub Boy's adulatory drivel...they will give the infamous, deplorable one a new hour at 10:00 pm to regurgitate his sycophantic fawning all over again! It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open!
Nate Silver, baseball expert and Daily Kos blogger
The "special" komments are so "special" they're coming every night, only now rebranded as "kampaign komments". Because, you know, the one thing that is in short supply on The Hour of Spin is Olbermann bellowing his opinion. The show is just too darned impartial. It needs a little jolt of Oralmann's twisted demagoguery.
MikeC:
#5: Rick Davis was an oracle (my word) when he predicted the election would be decided on personality rather than issues...or something. "In our fourth story on the Countdown, poor Mr. Davis...uh, fifth, rather..." Oopsie. It's fifth, then fourth, Olbermoronn. Why number them at all? They're all the same. And what's the deal with charging for luggage? Uh, anyway, upper-right graphic: "Poll Position," images of McCain and Obama looking up and to their left. McCain, deer in headlights grin; Obama, squinty grin. Voters are embracing Obama. No wonder Keithy stumbled. He was so filled with glee. And they're rejecting Sarah Palin. Double-yay! Comfort level. Lower-third graphic: "Two Weeks To Go." An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll says more people feel Obama has the right temperament to be President...by 20 points! Spectacular! And a Pew poll has Obama leading by 14! Awesome, baby, with a capital A! NBC/WSJ: Obama by 39 on healthcare! And on and on. Clip of McCain in Pennsylvania. Then, Obama in Florida. Enter the Pundit for All Occasions. Howie says undecideds want "new politics" and "don't like the partisan division of Washington." Therefore, I guess they want Obama. Remember, this is OlbyPlanet. (Side note: B-Roll briefly showed Obama in a barber shop with Alcee Hastings.) Pundit: "Obama has spent the last year and a half building a positive I.D. for himself." "Thank you, Howard."
Next, Palin bashing and lots of it. Another NBC/WSJ poll--34% of voters think Palin is not qualified to be Vice President, nor President (55 to 40). Lower-third: "Running Weight." Clip of "Saturday Night Live"'s Weekend Update featuring the Governor. Caricature! Platform performer! According to Merkle, appearing on SNL "only reinforced lingering doubts." New lower-third: "Problem: Palin." Not the Wolffe Man again! I think we all know what happened next. "Great Thanks, Richard."
#4: Monkeymann tossed around "the McCain Campaign's internal anxiety," and quoted the Talking Heads and David Byrne, concluding with "I ain't got time...for that *now*." Upper-right graphic: "Political Geography," McCain and Obama images, partial electoral map. In the full NBC Electoral Map, Obama leads 264 to 163! Hot diggity! Lower-third: "Diminishing Returns." Bush States! "Turn a blue state red." New lower-third: "Ground Control." Oralmann's Kos Kompadre Nate Silver put on his political expert hat and a grand time was had by both. Nate at the end: "North Dakota and Montana, why the heck not?" Bathtub Boy: "Uh, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, uh-uh like me, with a huge and original sports background...m-m-making a, uh, Nate reference in there. Uh, mmm, Great Thanks to you. Thanks for your time tonight." Silver chuckled and said, "Yeah. Thanks, Keith."
#3: A whole segment devoted to defending the great ACORN organization and mocking McCain.
Lafinman:
Olberdouche confused me... In response to Palin's answer he said "the Vice President doesn't do anything", he went on a rant of how "critical" and "vital" her not knowing this is. Most of it I skipped out on cause when you start with the Vice President doesn't do anything how do you follow that up? And if the Vice President doesn't do anything why have you been ripping into the nominee for 2 months, sir? Personally I just think KO loves ripping into women. And if he were married he'd be a wife beater. I admit I have no evidence of this, but who needs it? This is OlbyPlanet, after all.
Also I popped in for some Acorn news--it's still a fictional news story that KO thinks shouldn't be covered. But one man arrested for voter fraud connected to the McCain campaign cause it was Republican fraud so that very real, more real than Acorn and Obama. So now McCains hands are dirty, dirtier than Obama's, cause of one man.
Sadly seeing Oblermann fall in love with his voice on the start of Campaign comment I missed what Moore said on Pinheads and Patriots. Also what the Patriot was. lol dammit. Meanwhile on real news networks Acron is a story. Why, cause its just as real as any other voter fraud case.
MikeC:
#2: The Media Matters Minute. Worse was Dana Perino. Blue blog source: Think Propaganda. Misogynist Olbermann trotted out a supposed mock impression of the White House Press Secretary, complete with rapid speech, upward inflection, and pauses. Then, he made an absurd comparison to breathing and, in the supposed Perino voice, "not breathing...right now."
Worser was Sean Hannity. Blue blog source: Think Propaganda...again. Fixed News! [Ding!] Supposed Hannity impression. Manatee! Rip 'n Read plagiarized Bob Beckel's line (see TP transcript, if you dare) about Sean bringing up Obama's past cocaine use by saying he *wouldn't* bring it up, but added a twist of OlbySnark. Hal from North Bergen! Assassination!
Worst was Rupert Murdoch via Page Six. Blue blog source: Salon. Unfortunately, we were treated to the supposed Australian pirate voice, complete with the guttural "Arr," for a piece that Rupe didn't even write! Overpaid vermin! Lie!
#1: The second consecutive Super-Duper Extra-Special Education Komment, which was again pimped by Oralmann on his blog hours in advance. What a ratings grabber last night's Komment was.
KEITH ORALMANN'S SPECIAL EDUCATION KAMPAIGN KOMMENT:
OlbyRobot dramatic reading:
Transcript:
I suggested last night that until the election, we could very easily wind up doing a Special Comment here every show.
It was in turn suggested to me that while events may warrant them, this would certainly render that word "Special" for two weeks anyway inoperative.
Good point. So tonight, as promised, a Campaign Comment on the continuing adventures of Governor Sarah Palin in the big leagues or "Are You Smarter Than A Third Grader."
Q: Finally governor we've been trying to engage some local grade schoolers for the last few elections. We do a feature called 'questions from the third grade.' Brandon Garcia wants to know, "What does the Vice President do?"
PALIN: Aw, that's something that Piper would ask me, as a second grader, also. That's a great question, Brandon, and a Vice President has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the President agenda, they're like a team member, the teammate to that President. But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the Senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job.
Oh! I'm so sorry, Governor! The correct answer can be found in the Constitution of the United States.
Article One, Section Three-- "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." So, the Vice President is not in charge of Jack, Governor, let alone in charge of the Senate. And you are not smarter than a third-grader.
On the one level it is hilarious and entertaining that the Republican nominee cannot correctly answer the question "What Does The Vice President Do?" I mean, that first reference to the Vice President comes not 600 words into the Constitution. And the other meaty references are pretty simple:
Article Two, Section One --"In case of the removal of the President from Office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President."
There's the 20th Amendment-- you're done on January 20th and the 25th Amendment --if the President's incapacitated, you're the acting Pres. It's so simple, really, one could memorize those four points pretty easily wouldn't take long.
Brandon Garcia could do it in the third grade. So, on the one level, this is pretty damn silly. The Sarah Palin material, as Tina Fey might be able to say, just writes itself. As it does, it makes stupid mistakes, but it still writes itself.
Except there are two very serious aspects to this. Governor, do you really think you'd be "in charge of the United States Senate?" Do you really want to suggest that you think if you "want to" you "can really get in there with the Senators and make a lot of good policy changes?"
We're just wrapping up eight years of a Vice President who had no clue what his damned job consisted of, couldn't even correctly find his governmental branch with both hands.
The last thing anybody in this country wants, Republican or Democrat, is another Buccaneer in there, making it up as they go along, and, in your case, presuming you can stride in to the Senate and change policy if you want to! Besides which, Governor, exactly how on earth could you not have the correct answer by now?
It's not like this is the first time you've been asked about the Vice Presidency and gone all Miss South Carolina on us.
LARRY KUDLOW: Is this police-flap state investigation going to disqualify you from becoming Senator McCain's vice presidential candidate?
PALIN: As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I'm used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we're trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.
That was on the 31st of July on CNBC, Governor. Even giving you the biggest benefit of the doubt, that your later claim that that was just a lame attempt at a joke you couldn't come up with the correct job description on the second try? What am I saying? The third try!
GWEN IFILL (OCTOBER 2, 2008): Governor, you said in July that someone would have to explain to you exactly what it is the vice president does every day.
PALIN: In my comment there, it was a lame attempt at a joke and yours was a lame attempt at a joke, too, I guess, because nobody got it...Of course we know what a vice president does. And that's not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. I'm thankful that the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are.
No! No, Governor, the Constitution does not allow "a bit more authority" "if the vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate..." You would not be some kind of Senatorial Hall Monitor. You would not be a Veto, or a Censor, or a Balance.
And even if you think you would somehow obtain those powers from somebody, don't pretend the Constitution will give them to you!
PALIN: That thankfully, our founders were wise enough to say, we have this position and it's Constitutional. Vice presidents will be able to be not only the position flexible, but it's going to be sort of those other duties as assigned by the president. It's a simple thing. I don't think that was a gaff at all in stating what the truth is. And that is we've got flexibility in the position. The president will be directing in a lot of respects what the vice president does. The vice president, of course, is not a member--or a part of the legislative branch, except to oversee the Senate. That alone provides a tremendous amount of flexibility and authority if that vice president so chose to use it.
You're wrong! You've memorized everything else, Governor. You couldn't memorize the job description in three months? Four tries? I mean, I'd like my President and Vice President to have memorized the Constitution, and abide by it. Or at least, I'd like them to know more about the Constitution than I do. Or than Brandon Garcia does. Maybe I'm raising the bar too high but at least wait until you achieve office before trying to seize power extra-Constitutionally!
"The founders" were not George Bush and Dick Cheney! Gimme something to work with here, Governor or go home! And don't forget to take your lovely parting gifts with you. Including the Home Version of The Vice President Game.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 899th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
We have to tip our cyber hats to the contributors who helped put together this recap. The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has lately been especially deplorable, and tonight was no exception. It's an Obamapalooza of attacks on McCain/Palin on tonight's Hour of Spin, and--worst of all--the inauguration of the new, improved Special Komment 2.0--now with Lanolin! The Special Komments are so special that Monkeymann is going to serve them up every night until the election. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
MikeC:
5: The McCain Campaign is "rethinking" bringing up Reverend Wright. Ach, no! Wright Card! Secrets and Lies! Upper-right graphic: "Fear and Distraction," image of McCain looking to his right with squinted eyes, Palin looking up and to the right (aloof, perhaps, eh Keith?). Merkle says the campaign is trying to paint Obama and his supporters "as different and dangerous." Lower-third graphic: "15 Days And Counting." Oralmann quoted Rick Davis without playing a clip of today's conference call. On OlbyPlanet, audio and video ruin the lie. So, they never see the light of 8PM. Once he was finished with the Davis quote, time to snark. Clip of McCain on "Fox News Sunday." Watergate! [Ding!] Rick Davis also appeared on "a conservative talk radio program," but Monkeymann wouldn't say which one. Bringing up John Lewis is bad.
Joe the Plumber attack. Clip of McCain with small business owners in Missouri...a relatively long clip by Hour of Spin standards. Obama was at a rally in Tampa, Florida, with members of the Tampa Bay Rays. That means they're on his side! Yay! Clip of Hillary with Obama in Orlando. Now, she's good again on OlbyPlanet. Finally, four minutes in, it was time for the Wolffe Man to appear. New lower-third: "Secrets & Lies." Wolffie: "There's nothing serious about small donations unless you think the internet is a secret connection of tubes." Ooh, a Ted Stevens attack. Moving ahead in the clip now. Keith and his buddy laugh about "spread the wealth." Yes, isn't that absurd, Bathman? Great Thanks.
Next, the "pervasive," "precise," and "startling" Colin Powell endorsement of Obama. There was much jubilance on OlbyPlanet. Lower-third: "Powell Broker." Clip of Powell announcing the endorsement on "Meet the Press." Keith snidely proclaims McCain is "obviously disappointed" by the endorsement. New lower-third: "Powellfull." Clarence Page dropped in to Olby's playpen for a 4 1/2 minute agreementfest. The last time viewers of "The Factor" saw Page, he was claiming Fox News is far-right [Ding!]. Clarence thinks the endorsement will "have an impact on those undecided voters." Peggy Noonan! Christopher Buckley! At the end, Keith giggled, "By the way, you had me going when you said, uh, 'son of...' I didn't know where you were going after that, but um, thank goodness..." And I couldn't hear the last part because Clarence guffawed loudly. "Family show, Chris...Keith." Oopsie. "Great Thanks for your time, Clarence."
#4: Fat Ass: "What kind of phone call could surpass the awesomeness that is Countdown?" Uh, a call from my friend saying that you had been fired? That'd be great. But that wasn't it. "Would you believe you may get a phone call from Sarah Palin?" Damn, I was hoping it'd be the fired call. Oh well, OlbyWatch can dream. Upper-right graphic: "Can You Fear Me Now?", image of McCain with an obsolete cell phone superimposed in his hand. Robocalls![Ding!] Lower-third: "Call Wading." Quote! [Ding!] Fox Noise! [Ding!] G. Gordon Liddy is "McCain's washed-up terrorist." Palin "Real Americans from Real America" reference. Palin clip on the robocalls [Ding!]. OlbyChoir music from...I mean clip of Obama talking about "misleading TV ads." Amen-ish crowd response. Slovenly: "What the hell is *this* new robocall [Ding!]?" It was a Palin robocall LINK. Blue blog source: Talking Points Mummo (intentional misspelling based on previous OlbyFlub).
The Factor:
# 3 Story, sock puppet "Geno" Robinson tells Olbermann how poorly Sarah Palin did on SNL. Funny, seems she did pretty well for someone who received the script days before her appearance and did not write the script. If her appearance didn't go well, isn't that the fault of the writers on SNL? How exactly did the go poorly when SNL had the highest ratings SNL has had since they actually had a cast that anyone cared about?
MikeC:
#2: The Media Matters Minute. Worse was Mark Halperin of The Page on Time.com. Blue blog source: TVNewser. I couldn't find a source that brought up the Midwest Democracy Network questionaire *and* what Halperin said yesterday. Either way, how dare Mark dispute Lord Obama. Obamamann went on to provide PR for his savior. Cherry-picking!
Worser was Brian Kilmeade, John Dowd, and Rudy Giuliani. Blue blog sources: Medium Rare Story and Think Propaganda. Fixed News! Fixed News! [Ding!][Ding!] Olbermahn used the supposed Sylvester the cat voice for Giuliani. "Way to execute the Talking Points [Ding!], boys, but hello! You guys own enough reporters. (raising gotcha paper): Hop to it!"
Worst was "Roger Ailes of Fox Noise[Ding!]." Blue blog source: TVNewser. Ailes "is going to into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame...presumably near the bust of the guy who made the commercials louder than the actual shows." After a rapid reading of the quote Stevie K. provided, Oralmann snarked back: "Ailes, of course, never *hired* anybody like that at Fox...never practiced it himself...but he has *enormous respect for people who do!* Roger 'Do as I respect, not as I do' Ailes! Today's Worst..." Yada yada blah.
#1: Another ratings ploy of a Special Education Komment, which Oralmann pimped out on his blog two hours earlier. Thanks, but no thanks. Supposed indignation and faux outrage were on display for seven long minutes and 41 longer seconds. Psst, Olby, John McCain and Sarah Palin don't listen to you. You can stop now. Thanks a lot, bro.
Merkle923:
BTW, Olbermoronn is still lying about "violent comments" made at Sarah Palin's rally (2 weeks ago?) as noted in his Speshul Spitfest.
SPECIAL EDUCATiON KOMMENT BY KEITH ORALMANN:
I have frequently insisted I would never turn the platform of the Special Comment into a regular feature.
But as these last two weeks of this extraordinary, and extraordinarily disturbing, presidential campaign project out in front of us, I fear I may have to temporarily amend that presumption.
I hope it will be otherwise, but I suspect this will be the first of nightly pieces, most shorter than this... until further notice.
And thus a Special Comment tonight about the last five days of the divisive, ugly, paranoid bleatings of this Presidential race, culminating in the sliming of Colin Powell for his endorsement of Senator Obama.
There was once a very prominent sportswriter named Dick Young whose work, with ever-increasing frequency, became peppered with references to "my America."
"I can't believe this is happening in My America"... -- "we do not tolerate these people in My America" -- "this man does not belong in my America".
His America gradually revealed itself.
Insular. Isolationist. Backwards-looking. Mindlessly flag-waving. Racist. No second chances. A million rules, but only for the other guy.
Dick Young died in 1987, but he has been re-born in the presidential campaign as it has unfolded since last Thursday night.
In that time, Governor Sarah Palin, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, McCain spokesperson Nancy Pfotenhauer, and Rush Limbaugh, have revealed that there is a measurable portion of this country that is not interested in that which the vast majority view as democracy or equality or opportunity.
They want only... control -- and they want the rest of us, symbolically, perhaps physically... out.
Governor Palin:
"We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington D.C.," you told a fund-raiser in North Carolina last Thursday, to kick off this orgy of condescending elitism.
"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation."
Governor, your prejudice is overwhelming.
It is not just "pockets" of this country that are "pro-America" Governor.
America... is "pro-America."
And the "Real America" of yours, Governor, is where people at your rallies shout threats of violence, against other Americans, and you say nothing about them or to them.
What you are seeing is not patriotism, Governor.
What has surrounded you since your nomination, has been the echoing shout of mob rule.
Indeed, that shout has echoed to Minnesota, where the next day an unstable Congresswoman named Michele Bachmann added to the ugly cry.
"I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America, or anti-America. I think people would love to see an expose' like that."
For nearly two years, Ms. Bachmann, who made her first political bones by keeping the movie "Aladdin" from being shown at a Minnesota Charter School because she thought it promoted paganism and witchcraft, has had a seat in the government of this nation, a seat from which she has spewed the most implausible, hateful, narrow-minded garbage imaginable.
Well, Congresswoman, you have gotten that "expose'" you wanted, have you not?
Though not perhaps in the way you imagined.
Since giving voice to your remarkable delusion that there are members of Congress who are "anti-America," and the extraordinary tap-dance of sleaze and innuendo about Senator Obama which followed...
...the challenger for your house Seat, Elwyn Tinklenberg, has been inundated by donations -- 700 thousand dollars in the three days after you spoke.
Because the America you perceive, Congresswoman -- with its goblins and ghosts and vast unseen hordes of traitors and fellow travelers and Senators who won't ban "Aladdin" -- exists only in your head, and in the heads of the others who must rationalize the failures in their own lives and of their own policies as somebody else's fault -- as a conspiracy to deny them an America of exclusionism and religious orthodoxy and prejudice, about which they must accuse, and murmur, and shout threats, and cleave the nation into pro-America and anti-America."
And back it comes to the McCain campaign.
And Senator McCain's talking head, Ms. Pfotenhauer, who on this very network Saturday, and seemingly without the slightest idea that dismissive prejudice dripped from every word, analyzed the race in Virginia.
"I can tell you that the Democrats have just come in from the District of Columbia and moved into northern Virginia," she said. "But the rest of the state, 'real Virginia,' if you will, I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain's message."
Again, a toxic message...
The parts of the country that agree with Nancy Pfotenhauer... are real -- the others, not.
Ms. Pfotenhauer, why not go the distance on this one?
It was Senator McCain's own brother who called that part of Virginia nearest Washington "communist country."
Cut to the chase, Madam.
No matter the intended comic hyperbole of Joe McCain...
This is the point -- isn't it?
Leave out the real meaning of "Communism," Madam -- Joe McCain reduced it to a buzz-word; it has no more true definition right now than does "Socialism," or the phrase "a man who sees America like you and I see America."
It's about us... and them.
The pro-... and the anti.
Never mind, Madam, that the bi-secting of this country you would happily inspire, means taking a tiny crack in a dam and not repairing it but burrowing into it.
It is not enough that Senator McCain and Senator Obama might differ.
One must be real and the other false.
One must be pro-America and the other anti.
Go back and -- as your boss Rick Davis said today -- "re-think," Mr. McCain's insistence not to drag the sorry bones of Jeremiah Wright into this campaign.
And whatever you do, Ms. Pfotenhauer, allow no one enough time to think... about the widening crack in the dam.
And now all of this comes together to attack Colin Powell.
"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race," writes Rush Limbaugh... the grand wizard of this school of reactionary non-thought.
"OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."
It is not conceivable that Powell might reject McCain for the politics of hate and character assassination, or just for policy.
In the closed, sweaty world of the blind allegiances of Limbaugh -- one of "us" who endorses one of "them," must be doing so for some other blind allegiance, like the color of skin.
The answer to this primordial muck, must be addressed to one man only.
Senator McCain -- where are you?
I disagree with you on virtually every major point of policy and practice.
And yet I do not think you "anti-America." I would not hesitate to join you in time of crisis in defense of this country.
Fortunately you did not echo this chorus of base hatred.
But neither have you repudiated it.
What is "pro-America", Senator?
Is it pro-America to call a man a racist because he endorses a different candidate?
Senator, you have based your campaign on many premises, but the foremost (and the most nearly admirable) of all of them, have been the pitches about "reaching across the aisle," and putting, as your ubiquitous banners reed, "country first."
So when Colin Powell endorses your opponent, you say nothing as your supporters and proxies paint him in this "Anti-America" frame and place him in Governor Palin's un-real America.
Senator McCain -- did not General Powell just "reach across the aisle?" Did he not, in his own mind at least, "put country first?"
Is it not your responsibility, Senator, to, if not applaud, then at least quiet those in your half of our fractured political equation?
Is it not your responsibility, Senator, to say "enough" to Republican smears without end?
Is it not your responsibility, Senator, to insist that, win or lose, you will not be party to a campaign that devolves into hatred and prejudice and divisiveness?
And Senator McCain, if it is not your responsibility... whose is it?
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 898th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
UPDATE:An OlbyWatch exclusive! Dramatic reading of the Special Education Komment by the OlbyRobot:
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, October 17 2008.
This is a special thread for you to post your comments on tonight's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open: post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and you may see your insights later tonight in an official OlbyWatch Recap.
Challenge to Keith: Man Up! (Thursday Recappers Thread)
This is a special recappers' comment thread for Countdown, October 16 2008. After Olbermann Watch was first to report Keith's shameful lie, smearing Sarah Palin in the opening moments of his latest Special Education Komment, the news spread through the Olbersphere. The embarrassment was so great that Bathtub Boy penned a special non-SEK-pimping post at his blog, trying to parse his words to explain his deception. According to Olby, because he said "she may not have heard" someone in the crowd yell "kill him", therefore his SEK was perfectly accurate.
Of course, this is Another Olbermann Lie. Oralmann knew she couldn't have heard him say it, because Gov Palin wasn't there! But instead of reporting that accurately ("she did not hear him" say it), Merkle used the conditional "may not", and never told his gullible viewers that it was metaphysically impossible for her to have heard it--because she hadn't arrived yet.
But wait, there's more. Now it turns out there's another reason why Gov Palin couldn't have heard it: it was never said! The Secret Service was on the scene and conducted a thorough investigation. Their finding: the claim is unfounded and the case is closed.
This is almost identical to an earlier claimed incident in Florida, also investigated by the Secret Service, and also found to be bogus.
This is the challenge for Edward R Olbermann. You have pimped both of these alleged incidents on The Hour of Spin. You rushed to your home-away-from-home (Daily Kos) to roil the waters even further. But according to the Secret Service, these are both phony allegations. Lies.
So our challenge to the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann: for once, don't be a pussy. Dare to report something that contradicts OlbySpin. Retract your false, defamatory smears about the Palin campaign. Let your viewers know that the Secret Service has found them to be groundless. For once, commit an act of journalism. Grow a pair!
We ask our OlbyWatch recappers to keep close watch tonight to see how Herr Olbermann handles this story. Will he admit the truth? Try again to spin it away? Or simply spike it completely, to protect his own tattered "reputation"? Comments are open: post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and you may see your insights later tonight in an official OlbyWatch Recap.
You didn't have to go very far into Tuesday's Special Education Komment to find the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann once again twisting reality to smear Sarah Palin. To wit:
1:25 p.m. Eastern Time, today, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. During the warm-up act by a red meat Congressional candidate aptly named Chris Hackett, Hackett mentions Obama and a Palin audience member shouts, "Kill Him." And Gov. Palin, as usual, does nothing about it; says nothing to these thugs and psychos. She may not have heard this one. It is impossible to believe that by now she has not heard about the other ones. Her silence is deafening.
She may not have heard it? Here's the report from the Scranton Times-Tribune that Oralmann used as his source. It confirms that was said at 1:25 pm. So far so good.
But what is Herr Olbermahn not telling us? Here's what Bathtub Boy left out:
1:40 p.m.: The press pool has arrived at Riverfront Sports. Gov. Palin should arrive shortly.
1:56 p.m.: Gov. Palin, accompanied by her husband, Todd, walked onstage to a rousing reception by the Riverfront Sports crowd as the theme from "Rocky" played.
What's this? Gov Palin hadn't even arrived when some doofus shouted "Kill Him"! Oralmann twists the facts by saying "she may not have heard" it. May not?!? She wasn't even there! "Her silence was deafening." Well, it is kind of hard to be heard when you are in a motorcade miles away.
Keith Olbermann, once again demonstrating that he is a slovenly political hack, and, above all, a flagrant liar.
What can we take away from tonight's Hour of Spin? Besides the paranoid hysteria of the latest Special Educaiton Komment, the usual one-sided propaganda from Oralmann and his puppets? Last night it was Bathtub Boy's revelation that William Ayers is merely a "supposed" domestic terrorist. Tonight, Edward R Olbermann closed the case on another controversy. ACORN, the group under investigation by the FBI and several state Attorneys General (some of them Democrats)? They aren't guilty of any kind of election fraud. Judge Olbermahn ruled that ACORN are not the wrong-doers, they are the victims! No, we are not making this up. Don't try to make sense out of it. It's OlbyLogic.
MikeC:
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann let fly with the opening spiel: Another McCain-Palin supporter says "kill him" referring to Obama! Yet, the evil McCain says he's the victim because Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) played the race card. Rev. Olbermahn won't allow that, which means it's Special Komment time! Lunatic [Ding!] supporters! The polls "balloon" for Obama. How dare David Frum be "rude" to Madcow. Ms. Rachel "schooled" Frum. McCain finally going on Letterman this Thursday...unless he doesn't and Bear takes his place again. (He'd love that.)
#5: Obama's up 14 points! So says a New York Times/CBS News poll. Upper-right graphic: "Inciting The Mob," McCain looking to his left (screen right), one of Palin's VP debate winks. Attacking Obama! Lower-third graphic: "McHate." A supporter at a Scranton rally says "Kill him!" "A CNN interview with Dana Bash..." was shown. Tape of Obama telling supporters not to boo McCain. Oralmann: McCain is hearing the sound of "Independent voters moving en masse to his opponent." Full-screen graphic of +14 poll. Battleground state polls with big margins for Obama. How dare McCain say that electing Obama, according to Merkle, "would be the biggest risk ever undertaken by people." The Pundit for All Occasions appeared as an in-studio guest. New lower-third: "The Politics Of Hate." Olby: McCain is "schizophrenic." Great Pleasure.
Next, Monkeymann does PR for ACORN. McCain spoke to Telemundo, which in full disclosure, is part of the Olbermann Broadcasting Empire...I mean NBC Universal. Alleged voter registration fraud! Quote! [Ding!] Lower-third: "Crock The Vote." Tape of Obama distancing himself from ACORN. OlbySnark: "That's right, the Justice Department, (Ted Baxter-esque voice): Obama's nefarious co-conspirator." Fat Ass says ACORN is a "victim." Karl Rove! [Ding!] Fired U.S. Attorneys! Aha! McCain spoke at an ACORN event in February 2006! In your face, McSame! You got served! In comes Allen Raymond, and out go I. Lower-third: "McClaiming Fraud." McGive me a break, McBathtub Boy. "Thank you again for your time, sir."
After referring to Sarah Palin as "the demagogue [Ding!] from Alaska," we got McCain in the Membrane, which segued into the ratings ploy of a Special Education Komment, which Oralmann pimped on his own blog. (There was no #4 tonight.) Lots of theatrical body movements to indicate faux outrage. [And lots of screaming at the camera, addressing McCain personally as if he would waste his time watching this drivel, and enough spittle all over the floor to remind Krazy Keith of the last time the bathtub overflowed when he plopped his Fat Ass in it. --J$]
Keith wished his disbarred lawyer felon friend, John Dean, a happy birthday...then another Palin attack.
#3: Tom Bradley and the Bradley Effect. Swami Olbermann ponders whether Obama might experience "the reverse Bradley Effect." Upper-right graphic: "Polling Ahead," images of McCain and Obama looking to their left. Another reference to the +14 poll. Lower-third: "The Poll Truth." Professor Olbermoronn educates his viewers on the origin of the Bradley Effect. Enter radical left Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell. You know what came next. At the end, "It's been very informative. Thank you greatly for your time tonight."
#2: That goldern dang-blasted consarn Media Matters Minute. Why, if I ever get my hands on him, I'll...oops, sorry. Anyway, it featured O'Reilly Attack #518. Are you surprised?
Worse was "right-winger[Ding!] Jonah Goldberg." Blue blog source: Talking Points Memo, otherwise Goldberg's own LA Times op-ed. Olby sarcastically suggests he and the right compare Barry O'Malley to UBL...or something. Whatever.
Worser was David Frum. Republican Hack! [Ding!] Blue blog source: Raw Story. Hate mongers! Inciters of violence! "Well, he got his head handed to him [by Rachel Maddow]...politely, of course. It is Rachel." A reading of the gotcha paper was included, followed by PR for MSNBC's new primetime star.
Worst was O'Reilly Attack #518. Billo the Clown [Ding!]. Blue blog source: Newsliars, which ridiculously enough, features the undistorted in-context Talking Points Memo that they distorted for Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann to use. There was no big head on the little body--we got a traditional head shot of Mr. Bill instead--but there was the supposed Ted Baxter voice, which trailed off at the end as Edward R. Olbermann reprised the theatrical indignation and faux outrage, especially since BOR was critical of Oralmann's own blog. That's unacceptable. So, fasten your seatbelts. Here we go.
OLBERMANN: You know, normally I go for big comedy payoff with O'Reilly, but trying to somehow equate people shouting at McCain rallies...about anybody..."Kill him!"...somehow equating that to web posts, even the worst of them...at the Daily Kos...ever!...is just...dangerous! Bill, no funny voices, no Frank Burns[Ding!], no loofah [Ding!] references. You, sir, are playing with a loaded gun and you do not have the brains...to check to see if the safety is still on! Bill O'Reilly, today's Worst Person in the World.
Merkle923:
"I normally go for big comedy payoff"... Mister Humility evidently gets his "comedy" from recent unfunny guests Richard Lewis and Sarah Silverman. [And don't forget the creepy Michael Musto! --J$]
Great Thanks:
The 2 times I channel-surfed in was 1) during the SEK when he was screaming about how McCain is responsible for people screaming nasty things about Obama at rallies. I thought this was an improvement for Jimmy Legs, because it was something that wasn't blamed on Bush.
2) was during WPITW, which as mentioned was O'Reilly, who apparently compared nasty things yelled at rallies with nasty posts on Olbermann's Daily Kos. Keith was very somber as he decreed that the 2 things have absolutely nothing in common, yet he declined to say why the disgusting posts on Daily Kos were acceptable. We can all guess, though!
The Factor:
1 Story. McCain is doomed if he doesn't do Letterman!!!! Wow that is an important story. McCain sure is doomed if he doesn't do the last place late night show hosted by a rabid Obama supporter. Should McCain build a time machine and go back to the early 80's when Letterman was last relevant? McCain should defiantly take Olbermann's advice because we know Olbermann has his best interest at heart. That is why Olbermann later tells McCain to stop running for president. Next Olbermann will be telling McCain he needs to do the View again.
10th Cavalry:
Wasn't Crazy Legs just on Letterman recently? Well they deserve each other don't they?
In worser he is defending Madcow against a guest who was unhappy with her. Gee. She looks tough enough to kick the Ass of most of her guests I would think she doesn't need any help from the head Pussy.
Not in love with Billo but he gets the worst for talking about Lewis and not mentioning the people at the McCain/Palin rallies. Let me see know. The reverse of that would be mentioning the people at the McCain/Palin ralllies and not commenting about Lewis. Gee. Some people would view that is a being a bit hypocritical. Not me though. In Fat Ass's world that is called being normal. [Or spending day after day about Mark Foley, but sweeping Mahoney (D) under the rug, eh? --J$]
McCain's problem here is he should be addressing all of this right in the face like JFK did on the Catholic issue. Tell them I don't care if the man is black, white, purple or rainbow. The man is a Newbie. Never has had a lick of experience in any kind of leadership issue. Is vague and inconclusive on how to resolve the problem. Is full of great rhetoric but uncertain substance. Maybe I scare some people, but the level of his readiness for the most important job in the world should just send shivers up peoples spine. This is about being ready, not willing.
Katy Turic:
Speshul Edukashun spitfest
From the hack that sane folks detest
Many buckets of drool
Keith is a fool
For performing Obama's inquest
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 892nd day since the supposed declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Well, if we learned nothing else on tonight's Hour of Spin, we learned one thing. All the hoopla about William Ayers, one of only two people who bombed the Pentagon (the other being UBL)? Who admitted his participation, and has refused to repent for it? That William Ayers? On OlbyPlanet, he is not to be called a terrorist. According to Edward R Olbermann, Ayers is--and we quote--a "supposed domestic terrorist":
OLBERMAHN: I'm not going to ask you to try to pin you down on where the McCain campaign stands about slandering Obama and using supposed domestic terrorist or whatever because there's no way to track it.
Supposed! You know, like UBL is a supposed terrorist. Perhaps we should from here on out refer to Barack Obama as a supposed Christian. Or Bathtub Boy as a supposed journalist. No wait, that is going too far.
Merkle923: The DOW makes the largest point gain in it's history. Olberdouche's top news stories? Sarah Palin dropping a puck and building permits in Wasilla, Alaska.
Puck30:
Oh! I can smell it's 'Destroy Palin Night' #5 Let's start off with Palin at a supposed Nascar Event? Folks in the back couldn't hear. They were yelling louder, people in the front mistook them for Protesters. Confusion! Let's see prepared statements? Doesn't everybody do that? Okay maybe not 'The One'. Run that supposed Hockey Tape over and over! There's no cut in the supposed crowd noise! (but there's plenty of cuts in the picture). Well, what do you expect from 'Rip n' Read' off the NY Times piece. I guess the bloated one didn't get the rewrite.
Then let's pick all the supposed polls that have Obama way up (of all the polls, Olby highlighted two: Obama +10 and +11). But that was an all day deal at MSLSD. Up next, talking parrot Wolfe. Something from the Nation Ragazine shows up so everybody can trash McCain about asking about Obama & Ayers. What are these two talking about? Oh I get it, All Republicans are supposed Racists and terrified of Obama. Yeah Olby we all know about hate speech.
Okay #4 Bash McCain staff, choice quotes to show everybody is taking shots at the McCain staff. So bring someone on from the McCain staff? How about a Republican with said choice quotes? NO! Let's bring on a Democratic Strategist? Whoa! I need another beer.
Oh I forgot, somewhere in this mess we have Olby showing supposed signs showing supposed Obama hate. Yeah, Yeah, I know all about it!
Okay, next Olby talks about his supposed friend Gil Stratton who passed away at 86. At the end Olby used a quote from Gil. "I call em', as I see em'." Olby then said "words for all of us to live by." Damm! Olby and I agree! Except I think Olby needs new glasses.
MikeC:
#5: "Good evening. Please bear with the voice." Bear is under the weather. He was too far under the supposed weather to host Friday's "Countdown," pimping out David Shuster instead, and couldn't make "Football Night in America." We can all be thankful for that. But tonight, the supposed show began with the usual: an attack on Gov. Sarah Palin. Graphic: "New And Reproved." Ha-ha! Palin thought people at a rally that were yelling "louder!" because they couldn't hear her were protesters. Oops! Then, it was off to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, where Saturday night, Palin dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers' home opener. There was a mixed reaction, but the supposed boos won out on OlbyPlanet. Self-named Hockey Mom! Ignoring the supposed protesters! Piper was a human shield! Bob Uecker reference. Really, Keith? Really?
Skipping ahead in the segment, I see a supposed McCain clip from this afternoon, basically telling his supporters that everybody's picking against them but "we've got them just where we want them!" Then, came a happy fun time Obama clip! Yay!
After all that, it was time to play supposed patty cake with the Wolffe Man. Graphic: "McFlailin'." Keith showed supposed WaPo/ABC News polls that show more people trust Obama to handle an unexpected major crisis than McCain, and less people view Obama risky than McCain. Yee-ha! And Great Thanks.
Friday marked a "fascinating turning point" for McCain. He "broke rank" with supposed supporters at a rally by not attacking Obama. Graphic: "Back Sliming." A clip of McCain in a supposed local news interview was shown. Chris Hayes of the far-left Nation appeared on screen, disgustedly shaking his supposed head after hearing the clip, as the next guest in the Hour of Spin. Skipping to the end now. Hayes: "...profoundly terrifying and threatening to their identity as Americans, and we're seeing that come out." Oralmann: "Chris Hayes, the Washington editor of The Nation. Uh, thanks as always, Chris."
#4: Aha! Bill Kristol wants McCain to fire his campaign! And Christopher Hitchens hates Palin! And Gov. Charlie Crist is too busy to campaign with McCain! Upper-right graphic: "Base Of The Problem," with a ripped supposed GOP symbol. Lower-third graphic: "Base Less." And Newt Gingrich is turning against him, too! New graphic: "Grand Old Panic." Chris Kofinis time [we have updated The List! --J$]. No, thanks.
Puck30: #3 Some kook from the Village Voice (NYC's version of the 'Weekly World News') comes on to talk about Troopergate, AND! The Palins might have had somebody from the supposed Hockey arena that was built in Wasilla that paid for the supposed home that they live in but he's a supposed subcontractor, and this and that. Folks, it's The Village Voice the 'Area 51' of the thought region. Let's move on.
BTW????? Are we going to get to the Congressman who took over for Mark Foley who had to pay something like over $100,000 grand to a hooker or call girl that worked on his staff? OMG! Silly me! He's a Democrat! I must be getting tipsy!!!!!!!!
#1 story more McCain Bashing???? With Richard Lewis?????????? Who let him out of rehab???????????
MikeC:
#3: Troopergate! Palin lied! Lower-third graphic: "Scandalgate." Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice, home of the creepy Michael Musto, was the guest. New graphic: "Palin Power Play." Ooh, a supposed hockey reference. Yeah, right back in her face, Fat Ass. At the end now. Barrett: Ethical violation (supposed)! Guilty! Keith Lawyermann: Projection! Mr. Barrett was Always a Pleasured!
#2: The Media Matters Minute.
Worse was O'Reilly Attack #517. Blue blog source: Media Matters. One problem, Rip 'n Read: Mr. Bill corrected himself on Friday night in "Pinheads and Patriots" (transcript):
O'REILLY: Brock tells his Kool-Aid drinking audience that Obama did vote for an amendment sponsored by Barbara Boxer that denounced MoveOn and attacks on John Kerry. What Brock does not tell his Kool-Aid drinking audience is that Obama refused to vote on another Senate amendment, this one sponsored by John Cornyn, that also condemned MoveOn. That was the vote I was referring to, and Brock knew it. But Brock is a weasel and a liar, and he always does this. Now, I should have pointed out there were two amendments. Obama did vote for the Boxer amendment, but he did not vote on the Cornyn amendment. So that's my fault. I should have been clearer on that. But I am not a liar, and Brock is, in addition to being a pinhead.
But of course, Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann is part of Brock's "Kool-Aid drinking audience," so O'Reilly's followup was not mentioned. Instead, we got the tired old supposed Ted Baxter voice quoting the BOR portions of the Brock "Radio Factor" transcript (making Lis Wiehl the invisible woman). Then, the "aha" finger point and a reading of the supposed gotcha paper with the Barbara Boxer amendment, straight from the Brock link. With a rightward (screen left) head tilt and a grin, Oralmann sarcastically and patronizingly entoned: "You did some research!" Then, "Oh, and who did vote against alienating MoveOn? Uh..." Back to the paper. "...Ssssssenator McCain! Senator McCain voted against the Boxer amendment. Oh, what a drag...dude!" Way to do your supposed research, Olbermoronn! Dude!
After that, Worser was Mark Salter. Blue blog source: Think Propaganda. Worst was a supposed far-right minister speaking at a McCain rally. Blue blog source: Think Propaganda...again. Monkeymann stole an O'Reilly line, uttering "Good grief!" Religious intolerance! Blasphemy! Third Commandment! "I think he means you, Arnie!"
#1: The one-time supposed funnyman Richard Lewis returned to further sully his dying reputation...and unload on Republicans with his supposed pal Slovenly. It isn't worth recapping.
The Factor: Dogs that won't bark? Olbermann made a living bellowing about Mark Foley night after night after night. Well, the DEMOCRAT Tim Mahoney (D-Fl.), who took over Mark Foley's seat was just caught using campaign contributions to pay hush money to the mistress he fired. Tim Mahoney's campaign slogan "a world that is safer, more moral".
Katy Turic:
NBC's on Obama's campaign
Free air time for bashing McCain
NBC will allow
Olbermahn and Madcow
To flush ethics right down the drain
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 891st day since the supposed declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
BONUS: OlbyRobot dramatic reading of tonight's supposed recap!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, October 9 2008.
This is a special thread for you to post your comments on tonight's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website. It falls on you--the clear-thinking readers of Olbermann Watch--to document Oralmann's diseased rantings for posterity.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open: post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and you may see your insights later tonight in an official OlbyWatch Recap.
Daily Kos Tells Olbermann What Debate's 'Key Moment' Is, and Olbermann Obeys!
It's not like we haven't seen this before. But this time it was so incredibly blatant that it raises the question: why have Olbermann on the air at all? Why not just let Markos Moulitsas be the guy who hosts Countdown and runs MSNBC?
Markos "Screw 'Em" Moulitsas on Daily Kos, tonight at 11:23 pm:
Key debate moment:...
Biden's emotion about his deceased wife and daughter was the tipping point in this debate - when he choked up, the focus dials went to the maximum.... This was clearly the most dramatic of the evening. What struck me was that Palin didn't seem to know Biden's family story. Anyone who knows what Biden has had to deal with raising his kids wouldn't have blithely made that comment.
24 minutes later, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is in a commercial break. Coming out of the break, guess what? He has discovered a 'key debate moment' that somehow had eluded him completely for the first 47 minutes of the hour:
OLBERMAHN: There was one moment in this debate which we have not yet discussed in our coverage here in its aftermath. It may have been ultimately the most connecting and most emotional certainly of the entire night...
Wow. What a coincidence. But wait, have they racked up the video yet? No? OK, well luckily there are more commercials first. And when Oralmann comes back from the second block of commercials--mirable dictu!--he has the tape cued up and ready to roll:
OLBERMAHN: That which is visceral also often does not sink in to those who have watched a debate until it is long gone in the past, until the debate itself is long since finished. We may have seen that tonight.... When Senator Biden began in brief to talk about the tragedy that afflicted him and his late first wife when he was 29 years old. [Cue the videotape!]
How long will (MS)NBC allow Edward R Olbermann to play a journalist on television, when in fact he is nothing more than Pinocchio to the Giupetto that is Daily Kos?
Nobody wants to bother with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann on a Big Night like this. So instead of a recappers' thread, here's a debate night open thread. Festivities begin at 9:00 pm Eastern, but of course there will be contributions beamed in from OlbyPlanet. In fact, two separate Hours of Spin, one before and one after the debate.
For the main event, you'll have the Wolf pack on CNN, Brit and the gang on Fixed News [Ding!], and MSNBC? Well, since MSLSD has a new policy against using its partisan web-spinners as political anchors, David Gregory will do the honors for them. Yes, only real reporters anchor political events on A-Mess-NBC. Except when they let a failed Err America comedian anchor them, that is. Good ol' Madcow. She's no journalist, but she does play one on tv.
So here's your open thread for tonight's fun and games. If you do happen to watch MSDNC, feel free to post any Oralmann howlers/whoppers/lies you catch.
Tonight, we won't blame you if you pass up Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann in favor of real journalism, fair and balanced. Whatever channel you choose, this thread is your water cooler for The Big Night. Comments are open!
To kick things off, here's a video from Copious Dissent, specially captioned to convert OlbySpeak into English:
James Moore, Bush's Brain [Ding!] guy and HuffPo hack
Great Thanks:
In the opening spiel Jimmy Legs mentioned an interview where McCain had a "meltdown." The short clip he then showed didn't show any McCain meltdown, just a smart-ass answer to a question.
J$:
The opening spiel is usually a treasure trove of false advertising. The 'meltdown' that showed McCain's 'temperament'? He barely raised his voice above a whisper! More Olbermann Lies. Fat Ass also s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d the truth in bellowing about 'right-wingers' (with Greta van Susteren, of all people, as an example!) attacking Gwen Ifill. Oralmann ignored the substance of the issue and instead barked about how Ifill's book had been previously reported, it was in the Washington Times, and Amazon had it, so therefore this wasn't news and none of it matters.
On OlbyPlanet, standards shift with the winds. It wasn't that long ago when Olbermoronn was bellowing about Sean Hannity:
OLBERMAHN: Next time somebody tells you Fox is not dedicated to electing Republicans and slamming Democrats, answer with this anecdote. Another Hannity interview of Rudy Giuliani this week, yet another occasion when Hannity and Fox and Roger Ales did not disclose that on August 19th Giuliani held a big ticket fund raiser in Cincinnati and the man introducing him to the high paying guests was Sean Hannity.
But Keith? What was there to disclose? After all, that was reported in all the papers. Yet you thought then it should be disclosed. But the foot's on the other leg now, huh? This display of Olbypocrisy is brought to you by KeithOlbermannIsASlovenlyPoliticalHack.com.
But wait, there's more.
Keithy, who is all Mr You Must Disclose when it comes to Hannity--who is expressly billed as a conservative Republican commentator, and isn't being put forward as an 'impartial' moderator--our Keithy isn't above pulling the wool over the eyes of his own gullible viewers. Three times now he has hosted an 'election analyst'--a guy who like Olby got his 'expertise' in the highly intellectual area of baseball. Nate Silver made his third appearance on OlbyPlanet just last night, for another spell of parlaying his fantasy baseball basement website into a career as an elevated political analyst on The Hour of Spin.
Only last night, just as in all the previous appearances, Edward R Olbermann left out something. The esteemed fantasy baseball expert, Mr Silver, and his website partner are not exactly the impartial election analysts Keithy wants you to think they are. They are both declared supporters of Barack Obama. Using a biased partisan to analyze an election, and not telling the audience that he's a biased partisan? Whoa! That might strike some as not just unethical but even deceptive. All in a day's work at OlbyPlanet.
But wait...it gets better. Mr Silver is not just any old fantasy baseball Obama supporter. He's a fantasy baseball Obama supporter who also blogs at--all together now--Daily Kos! Oralmann's own blog! Where he writes high-toned 'diaries' about "Repugs" and shows his intellectuality by declaring that Hillary Clinton is "an empty pantsuit".
Yep, these are the kind of 'election experts' Oralmann prefers to NBC's own Chuck Todd. Or maybe it's Todd who doesn't like getting the mud of OlbyPlanet all over his reputation.
ktt:
Richard Wolfe is growing as gray as Olbermann. The years of playing KO's yes man are taking their toll as he sells his soul. Usually KO's "interviews" are mutual agreement sessions but he knows nothing about economics so Krugman gets to go his own direction. KO ays McCain would put "cronies" in his cabinet. I am shocked. That has never been done before. It's not as if anyone put a relative in a cabinet before either. Oh, yeah, there was that Kennedy as AG.
Oh, and KO, if you're going to consistently trash McCain and quote him as "berating himself" for a past campaign action, why did you think he was a good choice for Pres, in fact your favorite at one time, coming from your own mouth on the Dan Patrick Show. Sounds like a flip flop to me and you're in no shape to be doing acrobatics.
Even for a slack-jawed hack like Olbermoronn, dishing out the same pile of crap every night must be tiresome.
MikeC: The Media Matters Minute featured O'Reilly Attack #514. Worse was Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). I don't feel like recapping this. Worser was Brian Wilson. This, either.
Worst was O'Reilly Attack #514. Blue Blog Source: Media Matters, Duh.
O'REILLY: You know who used to do that--who practiced for hours before making a speech? And I'm not making any comparison here. So, don't...you crazy left-wing websites out there, not a comparison. Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler practiced for hours...
REIMAN: Well, he was a non-verbal...yeah.
O'REILLY: ...all of his gestures and everything else when he out there. So, if you practice your gestures, and then you get out there and you screw them up...(laughing)...you should just be natural, right?
So, the alarm bells went off in Commissioner Brock's office. He quickly flashed the Bathman symbol, and Bathtub Boy rushed in to lap up everything his blue blog master wrote. The result?
"But our winner, Billo the Clown [Ding!] on with his unqualified cartoon of a quote [Ding!], Body Language expert of his, the one who has the degree in General Studies from Pace University, and who likes to dabble in hypnosis on the side..." Yes, a Tonya Reiman attack, too. Clown! [Ding!] The Ted Baxter voice was used and, get this, a soft-spoken lispy voice was used for our Body Language doyenne. "So, Billo [Ding!] then makes a jump to a conclusion so great, it would set an Olympic record." After another Baxter dramatization that sounded nothing like the actual thing he was quoting, Herr Olbermann uttered two quick sentences followed by a rapidly-spoken sentence that had several commas, chronicling all of O'Reilly's Nazi comparisons (or at least chronicling whatever his blue blog masters chronicled for him). "This is at least the eighth time in the last four years that he has not made a comparsion to Hitler or the Nazis. He said Al Franken and Michael Moore were like Goebbels in 2004...yada yada yada...and then he described similarities between Arianna Huffington and Huffington Post to..." A quick glance down to the gotcha paper to reprise Ted Baxter, and..."'Hitler and his cuthroats.' Now, it's Pelosi. But of course, those were not comparisons. So, what I will not do...I will not compare Billo [Ding!] to that part of the anatomy, that as the old joke goes...everybody's got one. Billo the Clown [Ding!]...today's...Worst...Person..." Yes, yes, we all know how it goes.
John-O: This was a comparison of *body language*, not of deeds or personalities. O'Reilly was careful to stipulate that before he made his observation. But Olby didn't care. He read off a bunch of instances where Bill used Nazi-related references in the past and quipped "but of course those were not comparisons". I checked back on all contexts mentioned by Keith, and would venture to say that most of them were not comparisons, and, if confronted about it, O'Reilly would probably stand by most of his references.
Oralmann's source, Media Matters, also falsely suggested that this was a smear:
As Media Matters for America has documented, O'Reilly frequently attacks those with whom he disagrees -- such as the Daily Kos and Huffington Post -- by comparing them to the Nazis.
Did O'Reilly attack Nancy Pelosi? And did he do it because he disagreed with her? If so, about what? And how does it tie in to Adolf Hitler's hand gestures???
Katy Turic:
It's the same tired shtick every night
Kountdown is like Daily Kos Lite
Olby's news source
Where he's blogger de force
During Kountdown he posts to that site
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 879th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Nobody wants to bother with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann on a Big Night like this. So instead of a recappers' thread, here's a debate night open thread. Festivities begin at 9:00 pm Eastern, but of course there will be contributions beamed in from OlbyPlanet. In fact, two separate Hours of Spin, one before and one after the debate.
For the main event, you'll have the Wolf pack on CNN, Brit and the gang on Fixed News [Ding!], and MSNBC? Well, since MSLSD has a new policy against using its partisan web-spinners as political anchors, David Gregory (now that's really a change!) will do the honors for them. Yes, only real reporters anchor political events on A-Mess-NBC. Except when they let a failed Err America comedian anchor them, that is. Good ol' Madcow. She's no journalist, but she does play one on tv.
So here's your open thread for tonight's fun and games. If you do happen to watch MSDNC, feel free to post any Oralmann howlers/whoppers/lies you catch. Maybe you'll catch him popping a vein over MSNBC caving in to pressure from the eeevil Bill O'Reilly. Oh wait, Bathtub Boy never criticizes his corporate masters (that's why his manhood quotient is always in negative terrority). So much for that.
Tonight, we won't blame you if you pass up Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann in favor of real journalism, fair and balanced. Whatever channel you choose, this thread is your water cooler for The Big Night. Comments are open!
Another Hour of Spin for the record books. Edward R Olbermoronn really had to stretch tonight to launch his smears. Joan Rivers and Nancy Pelosi have never seen such stretching.
Oralmann used both Howie and Rahm Emanuel as his expert witnesses in political finagling and financial market economics. Howie of course told Merkle what he wanted him to hear. Why not? He's the closest thing to a weathervane in punditry.
Emanuel on the other hand was there to promote the lie that this deal was all set to go until John McCain ruined in. (The truth: the deal was opposed by House Republicans, who were not part of the negotiations.) And of course Rahmmy's great understanding of these matters was essential on OlbyPlanet. You will recall that Rahmmy was on the Board of Directors of Fannie Mae, and raked in his share of the cash (not counting over $50,000 in poitical contributions)--just another Obama team player up to his neck in Fannie/Freddie finances. Oddly enough, Monkeymann never once mentioned that. You'd think it would have some relevancy, no? It might to a journalist, on a newscast. In the case at hand, we are dealing with neither.
philly:
Olby is blaming the economic mess on McCain (shocker!). The John McCain Build-a-Crisis Workshop, he calls it. Olbyparrot Chris Hayes is along for the ride. I thought I was ill before, now I feel even worse after hearing Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Hayes just said that McCain's gamble played on the "stupidity of the American people." Stay classy, Hayes. 'Nuff said from these two bozos.
Hayes said that McCain's behavior is ad hoc and impulsive, which mirrors earlier spin from Kirsten Powers on Fox that McCain's behavior is "erratic" and unstable. That is the new Obama campaign meme - McCain is unstable and erratic because he made a snap judgment to lead instead of being an Obamasheep. "Call me if you need me" Barry has a few new orafices after W shamed him back to Washington to get his butt back to work. Barry thinks his job is running for office, not being a junior senator.
J$:
We predicted that Edward R Olbermahn wouldn't want to do a segment on the polls tonight that show McCain taking a small lead--you know like the segment he did yesterday that lied about what the poll numbers were and what they meant. Does it surprise anyone that we were--again--correct? Krazy Keith is as predictable as Pavlov's dog in a bell-testing factory.
But every now and then he surprises us. Like he did tonight, calling McCain a liar and using as his source: David Letterman! Based on one of Dave's jokes, Fat Ass insisted that the McCain campaign is doomed because he "lied" to Dave about leaving town. As if that weren't enough of a stretch, Legs took it a step further: Letterman was shocked--shocked!--to learn that McCain would still be in town the next morning to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative.
Sheesh. How stupid does KO think his viewers are? Wait...don't answer that. Instead, recall that in his nationally televised statement on Wednesday McCain announced to the world that he wasn't leaving for DC until he spoke at the Clinton event on Thursday morning. What, we're supposed to forget that, even though it aired dozens of times on Oralmann's own channel, A-Mess-NBC? Not only is this an incredible stretch from Krazy Legs, it's also a stupid, careless, lazy, lame stretch.
MikeC & J$: Tonight, once again, the blue blogs reporteth, Keith "Rip 'n Read" Olbermann taketh away and useth in the Media Matters Minute, claiming as thine own.
Worse was Neil Cavuto. Fixed News! [Ding!] "Also to receive a citation for Worst Timing in the World" (Blue Blog Source: Newsliars). Oralmann tried a rapid pseudo-impression of Neil. Now here's Monday's Cavuto commentary in context. In a nutshell: Cavuto thought the Congress should be able to multitask. But on OlbyPlanet, Olbermahn, with interlaced hands, asks his credulous lemmings: "Do you want to tell Neil about John McCain saying he can't campaign and, at the same time, be one of the 100 Senators addressing the fiscal crisis? Or should I?"
This is more s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, and also about a 120 on the lame-o-meter. For one thing, there's no punchline. He doesn't compare that to Cavuto saying something inconsistent, or opposite. Keithy puts it out, and it just lays there. And dies there. Plus, if Oralmann is making the point that it's somehow inconsistent with something McCain says, well... So? What's the point? Or is the point that if someone on Fixed News [Ding!] says something pro-Republican, that's fodder for ridicule...but if they say something contrary to some Republican, that's fodder for ridicule too? Really, can you get any more pointless and lame? --J$
Worser was two random things about sausages and hot dogs. Pass.
Worst was "The bottomless pit that is Steve Doocy of Fox Noise [Ding!]" (Blue Blog Source: Raw Story. Herr Olbermann did not name Mike Papantonio, limiting him to random "guest" status, nor what exactly happened. Why let facts get in the way of a good attack? After mini-impressions of Doocy, Edward R. Olbermoronn, again with the interlaced hands, began a long-winded snarky diatribe. "Look, we all know what Fox News is. We all know what 'Fox and Friends' is. You get three not very bright people,...yada yada yada. So, Doofy (yes, he said it like that) isn't on here 'cause he tried to shout down all mention of the Keating Five. That's his job. It's because of what he said as the guest got in one last reference to McKean...McCain's Keating Five scandal. Quote [Ding!]..." In a lispy schoolmarm voice that sounded nothing like Steve, Fat Ass blurted "This is not the History Channel!" Now, come the outward hands: "So, stuff from 1991 is too old, too remote, as the lawyers say? Meaning you guys think..." The hands get stretch out: "...John McCain's P.O.W. experience from the '60s should only be covered by the History Channel?" Now, the "naughty naughty" finger point: "See, 'cause if you're gonna discount what he went through in Vietnam, Steve...I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to (points finger rightward) step outside." Then, the closing boom: "Steve 'Nothing before 1992 counts' Doocy! Today's...Worst..." You know the rest.
Note that even the Raw Story piece acknowledged that the guy was being rude. He was, simply, filibustering, talking over everyone else, and trying to hijack the segment. Of course "Man on Fan" Olbermann's hate doesn't permit him to tell his viewers that. And true to form, he embellished it was another Olby lie: it's the job of Fox to shut down any mention of The Keating Five. Yeah, that's why they devoted more time to that scandal than any other aspect of McCain's life when they did their bio special on him. Again, for Oralmann to think people are this dumb really shows just how clueless and lame he really is. --J$
Katy Turic:
Another bat over Kountdown's moon
Margaret Carlson is like a cartoon
A knit cap and she'd vie
For Meg on Family Guy
Like putting lipstick on a buffoon
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 873rd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Oralmann's drivel is so predictable that betting on it is banned in Las Vegas. The usual attacks on McCain and Palin, but this time the utterly unprofessional slanting of the news to help Obama is so blatant it should be insulting even to Olbyloons. And yes, we have our OlbyLie of the Day.
Beginning in the opening spiel, and repeatedly thereafter, Herr Olbermahn trumpeted one poll that showed Obama up by 9 points. He was 2/3 of the way into The Hour of Spin before he bothered to report the results of NBC's own poll, that show Obama up by only two. And then he besmirched his network's own product by dismissing it as an "outlier". At this point he cited two other polls: Fox (not Fixed! this time) Obama +6, Hotline Obama +6. Then Oralmann switched gears to defend the methodology of not NBC's poll, but the one that had Obama up by nine!
Olby eagerness to flog this poll over the others did not escape Chris Cillizza:
CILLIZZA: Any one poll, whether it shows the candidate you prefer up by ten or down by ten, should not be taken as the God's honest truth.
Touche! Cillizza went on to say that polls should be averaged for a good honest read, and that would show Obama up by "2,3,4,5 points". But Merkle had his own math:
OLBERMANN: You've got 9, 6, 6, and 2 in the four most recent polls.
That would make Obama up +6, but that doesn't compute with Cillizza's estimation. How come? Because Olbermoronn is a LIAR! Another Olbermann Lie! Those are not the "four most recent polls". In fact according to tonight's RCP polling list, the +6 Hotline poll is the seventh most recent. If you want to include Hotline in an average of recent polls, then you can't skip over Gallup +3, Bloomberg +4, and Rasmussen +2 to do so. Unless you're a lying, slovenly political hack like Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann.
Clearly Keith took the three polls with the widest possible margin for Obama, included the NBC poll because his corporate masters had to be served, and tossed out all the intervening polls that showed a lower margin. Another way the infamous, deplorable Edward R Olbermoronn lies to his gullible viewers.
MikeC: The Media Matters Minute was the usual stuff. Worse was two pilots in Hawaii, represented by sad faces over two anonymous men in pilot gear.
Worser was Marc Salter. A McCain attack followed. Ties to lobbyists! False outrage! Salter said something about spears, so Rev. Olbermoronn played the race card, noting that it was close to a racial epithet. [Blue Blog Source: Olbermann's blog --j$]
Worst was Rush Limbaugh. Comedian! [Ding!] "What a slump he's in." Keith "Don't call me Fred Travalena" Olbermann trotted out his poor Rush impression while quoting a blue blog of some kind saying that Obama is not really African-American...or something. Since it came from a blue blog, I don't buy it. With incredulous patronization, Fat Ass entoned: "Comedian [Ding!]Rush Limbaugh, now reduced to using leftover stuff from Monica Crowley...when she was guest-hosting Laura Ingraham's show?" Did the blue blog say that, too, Rip 'n Read? [Yep! --J$] "Rush, I mean, is something wrong?" Krazy Keith's voice drops in level, but rises in pitch: "We need you over here. You're one of the best weapons progressives have ever had." Aha! Finally, Keith "I am not politically biased" Olbermann admits he's a progressive! "We need you to be at your best down the stretch. I mean, seriously! Get a check-up!" As his voice calibrates, he dusts off an old sports anchor catchphrase: "Or get a roll of stamps and mail it in!" He finished with: "Comedian [ding!] Rush Limbaugh, now cribbing from Monica Crowley's outtakes!" And then came the usual closing crescendo.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 872nd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Chris Hayes, far-left scrivener and OlbyParrot also
Shannyn Moore, ex-Err America failed entertainer
UPDATED: See after the jump. We expose Another Olbermann Lie used to--you guessed it--smear Sarah Palin.
Incredibly, the lead story in the opening spiel? McCain said "FEC" instead of "SEC". Wow. "57 states" never got that kind of coverage on OlbyPlanet. In fact it never got any coverage on OlbyPlanet. Plus the spiel had Olby repeat his old lie about the Special Olympics budget, and that was just the beginning. Before the hour was over, Bathtub Boy would reiterate a whole fistfull of lies about Palin, and even lie about one of his own guests! Hey, Merkle. It's a Friday night. Don't you have better things to do? What about Katy? While you're bloviating and lying on The Hour of Spin, what's she supposed to do? Stay home alone and watch tv? On a Friday night? Oh wait, maybe not...
Merkle923:
Ashleigh Banfield wants her glasses back.
ramjet:
This is KO's tongue-tied meme brain on "McCain in the Membrane." Low Blow KO: "Welcome to the Big Leagues, Gov. It maaaaa...uh..moves pretty fast out here. You might want to get your head in the game." [Quick out] Good advice, eh?
If sheep go "baaaaa," What animal goes "maaaaa?"
J$: UPDATE: Olbermoronn is such a disgusting hack liar. He's clearly developed a pattern for Palin smears: attack Sarah for something she never said. Here's a classic example:
OLBERMANN: Governor Palin again at Cedar Rapids: "As Alaska's Governor, I put the government's checkbook on line so that people can see where their money's going." She then said if she were elected she'd put the federal checkbook on line as if it were her own idea. It's a great idea. Such a great idea in fact that the American checkbook is already on line....
Another Olbermann Lie! Why did Olby quote her word for word in one sentence, and then switch to "she said" paraphrase for the next sentence? Because the next sentence was a lie. Compare Oralmann's version to her actual words:
PALIN: For instance, as Alaska's governor, I put the government's checkbook online so that people can see where their money's going. We'll bring that kind of transparency, that responsibility, and accountability back. We're going to bring that back to D.C.
Palin never said anything about putting the federal checkbook on line. She didn't even mention the federal checkbook! Olbermann lied to make her look bad. This smear was lifted from Bathtub Boy's favorite blue blog source: his own blog. But it wasn't his only lie built on attacking Palin for something she didn't say.
Consider the other Palin smear introduced tonight in the spiel: that "Palin's pastor" went on literal witch-hunts in Kenya, and that's outrageous (way worse than Jeremiah Wright) because Palin "credited him" with "helping her become governor". Sigh. This is soooo tiresome but it must be done. 1. He wasn't Palin's pastor. He was a guest speaker at the church. B. It couldn't be worse than Rev Wright because Palin didn't name a book after one of his sermons, never attended his church, and certainly didn't do so for 20 years. III. What do pastors matter anyhow? Oralmann never said a word about Jeremiah Wright until Obama denounced him. That means Fat Ass was--what?--about two weeks behind the news curve. 4. The best part of all: Palin never said he helped her become governor. That part was Another Olbermann Lie. Where did he get it from? He made it up! Well, he made it up after reading it on his own blue blog (Daily Kos).
But Oralmann was desperate to bring on some "authority" to spread this latest smear, so he returned once again to Shannyn Moore. The last time we saw her on The Hour of Spin, she was a talk show host on Alaska Progressive Radio. Not tonight. Oh no, Edward R Olbermahn tonied up her resume in just a few days' time. Tonight, she was Shannyn Moore, "Alaskan journalist"! How do obscure radio entertainers get to become "journalists"? King Olbermahn decrees it so. Of course, everywhere else but on OlbyPlanet that would be called a lie. Because there's nothing whatsoever in her resume that speaks to any kind of journalistic training or even experience. C'mon Olby, how could she be a "journalist"? She never had the bestest bubblegum card collection on the block!
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, Rush, Rupe, and an anonymous sad face. Let's knock them down in order.
Worse was Rush Limbaugh. Comedian! [Ding!] KeithO the Klown tried his most distorted Rush impression, sounding like he was eating while talking. "That's all he had," Fat Ass gleefully replied to Rush's statement (at least what was read from a blue blog) that "Obama thugs" hacked Sarah Palin's e-mail account without naming names. Sarcasm and raised hands abound in the following: "Why not Bill Ayers?! I bet it was Bill Ayers who done it! I mean, seriously, 46 days to go yet, Rush, and you've just give up?!"
Worser was Rupert Murdoch (again?). Ha-ha! His daughter, Prudence Murdoch MacLeod, admits in a new book by Michael Wolff that her father dyes his hair! Ha! That freaking loser, eh, Bathtub Boy? It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, meaning that voice of voices was trotted out to read a quote of Prudence in that book. But this time, it sounded like a down under Edith Bunker. To that, I say "Stifle, Keith! Stifle!" Back on OlbyPlanet, at the conclusion of the reading, Olby coughs and gives a "thank you" wave. [What's worse: to die your hair or to wear a hideous rug? ==J$]
Worst was...Who the hell cares when the picture involves a sad face over an anonymous person? Something about the guy getting lap dances in his office and he used to be head of DeKalb County Bar Association...or something. I don't care.
Make it a great weekend.
ramjet:
Help me out here, folks. I'm just trying to wrap by brain around the awarding of the Bronze Medal. Let's do a recap of events:
Wednesday, from "What Happens in Las Vegas, Stays in Las Vegas," Sen. Obama, talking to his supporters, said, "I want you to argue with them and get in their face!"
Gov. Palin's personal e-mail account is hacked into and private e-mails, contacts and photos are posted on the web.
Rush Limbaugh ties the hacking to "Obama thugs" let loose by Obama's order to "get in their face."
And the Bad Guy here, the WPitW Bronze Award Winner is NOT Sen. Obama, is NOT the hacker, is NOT those who posted the stolen personal information on the web. It's Rush Limbaugh for not offering any corroborating evidence to back up his connection claim!
All this happens just prior to the Mound of Sound continuing to repeat his lies about the so-called lies of Gov. Palin, which have been documented over and over as being not lies, but true statements. The Big League All-Star Hypocrite and Golden Glove Liar is out on a called third strike.
J$:
Remember when Oralmann & Co spent an entire hour hyperventilating about some schlub who sneaked a peek at Obama's passport file? And how it turned out that it wasn't just Obama but a bunch of celebrities? And no information was compromised and made public? Now, after the Palin email hack has been news three days, Merkle finally can claim he "covered" it because of a tangential mention in an attack on somebody with a much larger audience than his. "Journalism" on OlbyPlanet.
Katy Turic:
Baghdad and the RNC
Two places where Olby won't be
He's an expert on war
An Obama whore
And replaced by Dave Gregory
J$:
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 26 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 9 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -70 [Musto limp].
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 867th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Chris Kofinis, unofficial Countdown co-host and hack Edwards flack
Steve Clemons, far-left blogger and pseudo-journalist
Melissa Harris-Lacewell, ultra-far-left pinhead
Lies, smears, attacks, distortions, all in a days work for Oralmann, and tonight was no exception. You'll see how dishonestly he slants the news, with the help of a brain trust of the bluest cast of characters yet assembled for a one night stand on The Hour of Spin.
seattleJohn:
Story # 5 "McCain over exceeds authority, already"
In attacking McCain, it's becoming standard practice on Olbyplanet to first attack Sarah Palin... tonight is no different, in a speech Palin says "Palin and McCain"... and that slip of the tongue earns Fat Ass's wrath.
With the Palin smear out of the way... Olby jumps on McCain for saying he would fire the head of the SEC. Olby says a President can't just fire the head of the SEC - er, unless it's for cause Which means that McCain *could* actually fire the head of the SEC. Keating Five [Ding!] reference. Guest Howie Fineman nods and smirks at Oblytard's "sage" remarks... more Palin sexist smears... she's agressive and "wants to be the star of the show". Howard says he *agrees* with Keith's troopergate analysis (that's right, another Palin smear discussed) - so, you KNOW he was "Great thanksed!"
J$:
Of course the all-knowing Oralmann once again lied got his facts wrong (we're feeling charitable tonight). And so did Pundit when he claimed McCain got it all wrong. Not only can the President fire the SEC Chairman for cause, he has the right to demote him from the chairmanship (and leave him on the committee). In other words, fire him from his job as SEC Chairman. Countdown: when they don't lie, they don't know what they're talking about.
SeattleJohn:
Story #4.5 - "McCain fast changing rhetoric"
Keify bellows McCain "flip flops"! Chris Kofinis (the adulterer Edward's campaign 'strategist') hammers home on dem talking points [Yes, we have updated The List --J$] - McCain will be 4 more years of the evil Boooooosh! zzz-zzzzz-zzzzzz Campaign Waterloo... campaign is a strategic free-for-all... it's tone deaf. zzzz-zzzz-zzzzz McCain has no core convictions... zzz-zz-zzzzzzzz. Olby brings up Palin and Troopergate *a-gain* - and of course they all agree that it's bad for (can you guess?) the McCain campaign.
Story # 4 "Where in the world is Spain?"
Kiethy claims that McCain is confused multiple times and mixing everthing up during an interview on the Radio... he then plays a clip to demonstrate how out of it McCain is - except the clip doesn't demonstrate that at all (Olbyloons fall for this kind of stuff?).
Guest Steve Clemons - says McCain had a "Sarah Pailin moment" (bonus Plain smear in a McCain segment) in that he wasn't ready to talk about Spain. Olby screams "McCain flip flop" "lockstep with Bush"! Steve says that this McCain non-screw-up is much worse than just being in "lockstep with Bush". Ooooooh, you know Olby was happy!
J$:
Clemons fits the profile for a guest on The Hour of Spin: far-leftist whose website encourages readers to read such distinguished publications as OlbyFave Talking Points Memo, and that bastion of respected journalism, Washington Monthly, where one can read such articles as "The Republican War on Voting" and "McCain's Pain in Spain" (hey, that sounds a lot like one of Olbermoronn's bon-mots tonight...coincidence?) What, Edward R Olbermann didn't tell you any of this? He rarely lets the gullible viewers know what hacks his guests are.
Something else that didn't fit the spin from Oralmann and his parrot: the person who interviewed McCain denied that he got confused, or didn't understand. He just didn't want to answer the question. Oops, TMI on OlbyPlanet.
The #3 guest was cut from the same cloth. But you already knew that. This is The Hour of Spin after all. Melissa Harris-Lacewell (love those three-named wonders) appears with Bill Maher, and writes for such mainstream publications as Huffington Post, Slate, and The Nation. She gives public advice to Barack Obama on such respected websites as Democracy Now! 'Nuff said.
SeattleJohn:
Story #1 "Fox Lobs Pailin Softballs"
Olbermann mocks the "Fixed News" [Ding!] interview of Sarah Palin as 'softball' (that he complains about a softball inteview with a straight face is unreal and quite a feat). Then, out of nowhere, Olby injects a clip of someone on Fox saying the word 'tits' (in an interview about Palin) for no apparant reason other than Keith being a perv. Olby then plays a hacked up clip of the Palin interview... and cracks jokes that aren't funny.
ramjet:
Why would someone use 62 seconds of quick edits, repetitive phrases, quite possibly repeating the same clip numerous times and smirky ridicule rather than actually showing a full clip of a "softball" question and the answer?
The Factor:
Does Olby really want to get into who lobs softballs at guest? Do we need to pull clips of Olbermann and his blue dress interview with Obama?
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, O'Reilly Attack #512. Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann's "glorious" Blue Blog Source was Slate. Billo the Clown [Ding!] "Billo's [Ding!] claims about the number of times he's said shut up on TV." The "claims" varied depending on the interviews Bill has done over the years. The Ted Baxter voice was used when quoting what Slate said BOR said in interviews, including "six times in 12 years" in this week's Time magazine. Here's the full quote. But most of the times listed, and read on the gotcha paper, were in jest about a non-guest to a neutral guest, in passing about a non-guest to a neutral guest, or in the Talking Points Memo. Jeremy Glick! Dave Kopel of the Rocky Mountain News was listed, but he was filibustering and deserved it.
Worser was the Virginia Republican Party for some event they're having. George Allen! Macaca! [Ding!]
Worst was Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Hillary supporter now backing McCain. Oh, God, no! Obamamann basically labeled her a hypocrite for calling the people Obama referred to as "bitter" as "rednecks." Also, for calling Obama an elitest while she is married to royalty on a "3,200 acre estate ascot in Buckinghamshire north of London!"
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 866th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Richard Wolffe, UK exchange student, held over for a second day
Eugene "Geno" Robinson, Obama tank-dweller
James Moore, hack scrivener famed for "Bush's Brain" [Ding!]
Allen Raymond, conspiratorialist bloody-shirt waver
Rachel Madcow, failed Err America comedian
Another day, another Olbermann Palin smear. But tonight Olby doubled his pleasure, doubled his fun. He gave us not only a new Olbermann lie about Sarah Palin, he tossed in for good measure a new Olbermann lie about Bill O'Reilly! Herr Olbermahn, merrily rewriting facts and proving again that he is a slovenly political hack.
seattleJohn: Story # 4 - McCain knows politics, if not economics...McCain isn't a fan of government regulation and taxes... and that's a no-no on Olby-planet. Geno Robinson says "you know" a lot in between spewing dem talking points against McCain. At the end, Olby of course, throws in a gratuitous Plain slam - Geno doubles down and mocks her intelligence. Olby-yuks "Thanks and take care."
Story # 3 Dirty tricks Season Begins... A story about Obama's new race-baiting anti-McCain ad that smears McCain as anti-amesty and misquotes (multiple times) Rush Limbaugh? Or, the latest Acorn vote fraud scandal? Are you kidding... not on Olby-Planet!
It's Olby Book Club Time - Allen Raymond's "How to Rig an Election - Confessions of a Republican Operative" - Fat Ass starts by covering a story and then frets that actually "covering the story" could supress the the dem vote (which must really be the aim of the eeeevil republicans). The author sets him straight and says the coverage would actually increase the dem vote. Needless to say, Olby's "scoop" petered out from there.
J$:
Why waste any more time, let's get straight to Oralmann's first smear: tonight's lie about Sarah Palin. And in the true Orwellian [Ding!] fashion that Bathtub Boy loves to employ, his lie about Palin? That Palin herself lied:
Follow: Palin told Gibson she didn't hesitate when asked to run. But tonight, she told Sean Hannity that...well wait, let's get Merkle's exact words so that his lie is laid bare:
Governor Palin insists to Sean Hannity that she did not immediately accept the spot on the ticket, that she hesitated and put it to a family vote.... For God's sake Governor, you're coming across as an out-of-control liar.
Well this is what happens when you claim to quote an interview that hasn't even been broadcast yet. In fact, Palin did not say she hesitated. She did not say, let alone "insist", that she didn't immediately accept.
PALIN: Just the utmost honor is what I felt when he actually said "do you want to help me do this?" And I said "Absolutely, let's get in there and let's reform. Let's shake some things up."
HANNITY: What was your family's reaction...?
PALIN: It was a time of asking the girls to vote on it anyway, and they voted unanimously on it "yes".
So where was Sarah Palin "insisting" that she hesitated? It's clear she agreed immediately, exactly as she said to Gibson. The family's reaction to her immediate decision is something entirely different. But hey, who cares if Krazy Keith smears Palin with another lie, compounded with a doctored, counterfeit quote? Anything to serve the cause of Herr Olbermahn.
Oh and the only question left: which blue blog did Olby raid for this particular bit of fractured insight? He didn't have to look far. It was Olbermoronn's own blog, Daily Kos.
Oh, there was also a revival of The Anthrax Conspiracy. This one he lifed from Salon.
MikeC & J$:
After Bear covered a bear loose in California, we got the Media Matters Minute, which featured O'Reilly Attack #511, and Another Olbermann Lie.
Worse was Rupert Murdoch (again?), made to look like he cares more about the well-being of News Corp than the hard times on Wall Street.
Worser was Attack #511. "Our silver, Billo the Clown [Ding!], reading the GOP Talking Points [Ding!] about Michelle Obama." Yes, fair reportage of Mrs. Obama in The Obama Chronicles is all part of those Talking Points [Ding!]. Here's the video from last night:
Man on Fan "reported" that evil Bill used called Michelle an angry woman five times and his poor guests disagreed with him. Those poor souls, right, Merkle? Sideshow Bob rake reference. The crazy Ted Baxter voice was used (again?). Fat Ass read a transcript and claimed that Rebecca Johnson, a contributor editor at Vogue magazine, replied to Mr Bill "don't they say that about you, too?" (i.e. "angry"). Olbermoronn spun that into a guest turning on the evil O'Reilly, throwing it right back in his face, leaving O'Reilly "flummoxed."
Another Olbermann Lie! Just view the video: Johnson's comment was a joke, and O'Reilly was not in the least flummoxed. Do you get the idea that Keithy never even bothers to watch the video of this stuff? He just takes what his writers give him from whatever blue blog they lifted it from (in this case, Hillary Clinton's Media Matters). Oralmann of course added the "flummoxed" part himself. Which is to say: he made it up out of thin air! That's the best kind of Olbermann Lie.
As a wrap to his "flummoxed" lie, Fat Ass added: "Viewer Participation Day. Make up your own joke here." Keithy has viewers? Wait, let me backtrack. Does Keithy have 3 million viewers a night? Insert your own response here.
Worst was Rush Limbaugh. Comedian! [Ding!] Rush was "carrying the water" defending Sarah Palin. Same person that said Feminazi! Out comes the gotcha paper, Rush attacking Hillary Clinton when she cried that January day in New Hampshire, which Edward R. Olbermoronn puts up to his face, pausing to look into the camera and make a mocking face while reading the words "emotional blackmail." When he was finished, he entoned: "And not a single one of the sheep listening to him talk out of Face #2 today said of Limbaugh...(voice dropping): 'This guy is the biggest fraud on the radio dial!'" It sounded like Olbermahn was channeling the devil when he bellowed "dial!" "Comedian [ding!] Rush Limmmbbbauggggh! Today's Worst...Person...How's that bear doing?...in the Worrrldddduh!"
Katy Turic:
When counting his nuts, he counts none
Conventions covered? Just one
Olby's cowardly
Unless they're a (D)
He should go to Iraq just for fun
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 865th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Chris Hayes, far-left Nation scrivener and OlbyParrot
Barton Gellman, anti-Cheney smear author
Howie Fineman, pundit for all occasions
Rachel Madcow, failed Err America comedian
Even Olbermann gets tired of repeating the same Palin smears night after night. So tonight Herr Olbermahn gave us something different: an entirely new Palin smear, and--like the others--a certified, notarized, documented Olbermann Lie. You saw it first on The Hour of Spin, and you'll see it exposed first right here at Olbermann Watch.
youngjim: Olby crows that Palin's favorable/unfavorable ratings HAVE DROPPED 10 POINT IN 3 DAYS! Still she's still favorable 48 to 36 (down from 52 to 30). Palin lies (AGAIN) about the teleprompter(gate). Keef's sources saw the teleprompter AND IT WORKED FINE. And she quoted A MCARTHYITE ANTI-SEMITE! (Westbrook Pegler) Chris from the Nation shakes his head in amazed disgust. How can she continue to tell the teleprompter lie? Scandalous indeed. She won't work with the investigation of her in Alaska--she must have something to hide. The Palin bubble has burst!
Cheney anti-biographer Martin Gelman quotes Dick Armey, Cheney bullshitted him by saying Iraq had suitcase nukes. Armey: if i had known I could have stopped [the war]. Cheney's fault? Bush's fault?
Keefy huffing about Gov. Sarah "invoking" her special needs child. She sez she increased funds for special needs children, but keefy sez she cut the budget for the special olympics by half--"that's sick" Keefy hyperbolates.
J$:
And so we come to Edward R Olbermoronn's Lie of the Day. Why bother typing it out when you can watch it and see all his theatrical indignation and faux outrage as he spews his latest smear:
She cut the Special Olympics Budget in half, and is campaigning as an advocate for special needs kids. That's pretty sick.
Now we would humbly suggest that if someone cuts a budget in half, that would mean that Alaska would be spending half as much money as the year before. That is what "cutting a budget in half" means, no? Well that's what it means here on terra firma. It has a totally different meaning in that Bizarro World known as OlbyPlanet. Would it surprise you to learn that Sarah Palin did not reduce funding for the Special Olympics, but increased it? Well, no, it won't surprise the clear-headed readers of this site, because they are familiar with Bathtub Boy's "journalism": lift a story from a blue blog (in this case Think Propaganda), spew it on the air, and whatever you do, don't check the facts:
While the Special Olympics did not want to make any comments about budget cuts, Channel 2 News looked into the governor's funding of the program.
Records show Palin actually increased their funding by $25,000. However, that amount is only half of what the program asked for.
"This governor from the very start has a very clear record of her support for children with special needs," said Palin's campaign spokesperson Meghan Stapleton. "Since taking office she has nearly tripled funding for those with special needs in the public school system."
The Department of Education in Early Development says funding for special needs and intensive needs has gone up $73 million since Palin took office.
Um, did you get that, Fat Ass? Sarah Palin increased the Special Olympics budget. She didn't "cut it in half". When someone asks for a big increase, and you give them a smaller increase, you didn't "cut the budget"--by half, or by any amount. You increased it, just not as much as was hoped for. Hey Merkle, are these heady mathematical abstractions too complex for you to follow? Oh, and Edward R, news isn't news because a blue blog says so. And "rip 'n' read" isn't journalism, except maybe on A-Mess-NBC.
SeattleJohn:
Story #3 - "Pulling back the curtain on Cheney" The Olby Book Club -- an interview with "Angler" author Barton Gelman. Keithy decries what a criminal Cheney was... according to fatass, Cheney was solely responsible for the Iraq war, was secretive, manipulative, and was tipping the historic balance of power to the president. The VP's crimes? Cheney had a conversation with a congressman... Cheney interpreted the separation of powers different than Olby did... a surveillance program was overseen by Cheney... and, when Cheney got selected as the VP nominee, he [gasp!] didn't have to fill out a VP questionnaire form! Gelman, it goes without saying, was "great Thanksed!"
Story #1 "Surprise! McCain invented the Blackberry"
Olby decries that Al Gore was smeared with the line that he "invented the Internet". Then, Fat Ass pushes the smear that McCain claimed to have invented the Blackberry. The incriminating audio that Keith played, interestingly enough, never actually makes this claim (the McCain backer being recorded was discussing McCain's support for the telecommunications industry - which *did* set the stage for devices like the Blackberry)... but, Orangeman never lets contradicting audio get in the way of a good lie. Rachael Maddow, tonight playing a telecommunications expert, opined on the impending death of the McCain campaign due to McCain's "Blackberry lie". Obly tells a bizarre story about when he was a sportscaster and Rudy Guiliani made a joke about the weather. Maddow obviously then has to link Sarah Palin in to this story. Obly cracks-wise about Mcain inventing the wheel too! Yuks all around on Olby-planet.
rick:
According to Olbermann, we can no longer make fun of Algore for inventing the Internet although Algore, himself, not a low-surrogate, said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."
Now, the Tax Cheat informs us, McCain is henceforth to be known as "the inventor of the Blackberry" because someone from his campaign said the following:"Telecommunications of the United States is a premier innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce committee...So you're looking at the miracle John McCain helped create and that's what he did."
This is so lame. Fat Ass isn't even trying anymore. It's sad really.
Cecelia:
I suppose Olbermann feels that Sara Palin shouldn't be spending the vast vast fortune it takes to buy her very own tanning bed. Who does she think she is-- Marie Antoinette? Imelda Marcos? Keith thinks Gov. Palin should do the egalitarian thing and have herself spray painted orange by little Oompa Loompa minions as he does.
MikeC:
The Media Matters Minute was News Corp-less. That's the good news. The bad news is the following:
Worse was G. Gordon Liddy for daring to criticize Obama. "Soon to celebrate 78 years of living on his own personal plane of consciousness." Why does Keith hate old people? Talking Point! [Ding!] Olby tried a bad Liddy impression. Obama really was born in this country, though. The eeevil O'Reilly has the birth certificate to prove it, as he said in his viewer e-mail segment tonight. On OlbyPlanet, KeithO the Klown did the same thing, but with that snark and sarcasm his bosses go ga-ga over. "The whacko site WorldNetDaily..." Watergate! [Ding!]
Worser was Eddie Burke, host of "The Eddie Burke Show" on Smart Radio AM 700 KBYR, an *Anchorage* Fox News Radio affiliate. Burke told off two female protesters at some anti-Sarah Palin protest, gave out their cell number, told listeners to abuse them, and the two got death threats. He was suspended for a week. Not good enough for Man on Fan who just had to work in Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh (who are nothing alike). "Mr. Burke, he got a paltry one-week suspension, and no doubt, consideration to fill in someday for comedian [Ding!] Rush Limbaugh or Billo [Ding!] or some other of radio's inducers to violence."
Worst was Kevin D. Williamson of National Review Online for having the gumption to post a reader's criticism of Olbermoronn for last night's Palin tanning bed attacks...uh, I mean reportage. Keith read the full "quote [[Ding!]" from the reader with a condescensing tone. Fat Ass scoffed at the diagnosis the reader put forth, launching another Palin attack through a series of rapidly-spoken questions. Hypothetical! "And one more [question] to Mr. Williamson and his unknown reader. Are you sure this is a better tack to explain the Governor's private tanning bed...than just saying...(raised hands): she wanted a tanning bed?! Kevin Williamson of the National Review Online! With friends like this, who needs enemies? Not helping Governor Palin too much and today's..."
Remember, OlbyWatch readers, Jeff Zucker looooves this guy.
Katy Turic:
The "news show of record" he'll feign
Nightly news is bashing McCain
At (MS)NBC
Barack's message is free
Kountdown to Obama's Kampaign
Dogs That Did Not Bark: predicted with uncanny accuracy here.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 864th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
Chuck Todd, pissing away his credibility on OlbyPlanet
The opening spiel featured--what else?--another Olbermann Lie. Well, a repetition of a Golden Oldie Olby has been spewing just about every night: Palin lied about the bridge to nowhere. For those who tuned in late, Keith Oralmann insists that Palin takes credit for "always" being against the bridge. Which of course is a lie. But it ain't Palin's lie. It's Oralmann's.
youngjim:
Herbert Hoover (5 mentions "the antichrist of economics") is the name of the day, along with (so far 5 mentions) of 'nation of whiners,' or 'whiners', Phil Gramm. Gramm also gets blamed by Enron advisor Paul Krugman for all the problems in the economy. Phil Gramm may be just the man to do it: "another great depression." Geno and Obly agree that if the election is a referendum is on the economy the lefties look better. Biden is "revivified" by his attacks today. They did put his suit jacket back on, no doubt to remind him to act like an adult. [The Herbert Hoover reference is part of MSNBC's internal talking points; his writers lifted it from Chris Matthews, or his leg...one or the other. --J$]
SeattleJohn: Story #4 Liar, Liar, Campaign on Fire
Even Fixed News [Ding!] and Karl Rooooove are calling out the McCain campaign for lying (shockingly no lies listed by Olby - just a jump to an uber-lame Biden joke "McCain is Bush 44"). Keithy plays an Obama campaign commercial (I know I know, the whole show is an Obama commercial). Chris Kofinis (again?) - "McCain's a liar - McCain will backpedal - McCain's losing credibility - McCain's dirty tactics - this is good for the democrats - McCain's campaign is in a dangerous spiral". [Yeah, Kofinis again! That means another update of The List. Check it out! --J$]
Hmmm... I wonder what the latest electoral college polling numbers show? Which brings us to...
Story # 3 Interpreting the Palin Bounce
Olby snidely dumps on a McCain/Palin crowd estimate from the McCain campaign before giving his acolytes the bad news... the Electoral College move towards ::gasp:: McCain (the "Palin Bump" - the "Palin Effect").
Keith's slovenly political hack questions to Chucky Todd:
Is there a shelf life on these numbers? (Keith is begging)
Would continued bad economic news tip the balance back to Obama? (Keith is hoping)
J$:
Edward R Olbermann not only gets his stories from the blue blogs--he lets them do his editing too! The clip of Rove making a vague criticism of McCain's ads was edited to remove Rove's specific criticisms of Obama's "email" ad. Just like HuffPo did! And the clip from Fox interviewing the McCain spokesman that Bathtub Boy ran? He of course ran no clip from the interview that followed, with an Obama spokesman sputtering about that selfsame email ad--the same thing HuffPo did! Note: you can see both interviews here , and you'll quickly understand why one got OlbyPlanet clippage and one didn't.
youngjim:
Karl Rove is a popular giggling point with Keef. "Calling out McCain for LYING." plays a commercial with vile, disastrous, " deception is all he has left. " Chris Kofinis, McCain campaign suffers from farmhouse thinking. "if you come up with stinking lies, lies, lies, lies, et. al. "death spiral" due to (LIES). did he mention that McCain campaign has no credibility? Natch, they lie.
"Bushed" features a lawn sign with exploding Twin Towers by some 527 type group (i.e. not very professional looking), Keef uses this to remind us that Republicans were in charge then (he doesn't say for 9 months after an 8 year administration) and repeats the charge that McCain sez he knows how to get those responsible but will only share it with us if he is elected. "He's going to need a new AD!" Smirk, quick cut.
Olby and Toddy keep talking about the "fundamentals" quote but I missed the memo on 'dat one. McCain in the membrane, Obama did not call Sarah Palin a pig. "The McCain phony outrage level is orange." fake look of outrage. quick cut.
Tanning bed gets 5 mentions tonite. She hires her "crony friends", uses private email accounts to do business, and fires people. Kisses Tina Fey's butt. putting a lot of hope and dreams that the Tina Fey bit will hurt the Gov Sarah. Howard Fineman "huffing and puffing by Obama camp followers" heh. sez a lot of people have tanning bed cuz it's dark up there. She paid for it Keith admits.
SeattleJohn:
Palin is flavor of the month... Shockingly, Keith spews negative Palin stories from the NYT (thin gruel). Keith notes Palin's conducted improper campaign business (probably just trying to be fair for all those Obama/Rezko and Obama "I paid off my wife's employer with pork" stories he's done). And, shockingly Palin's enemies have bad things to say about her. Howie and Keith yuk it up about those crazy Alaskans. Keith thinks it'a a VP disqualifier to own a tanning bed. [Tanning beds do cost real money: about the equivalent of five John Edwards haircuts. --J$]
pdq.openid.org
There is dramatic irony in Keith "Orange-Glo" Olbermann criticizing Palin's use of a tanning bed.
lem:
Keith Olbermann commented on the latest electoral college numbers and couldn't disguise his not so subtle glee over the Lehman brothers bankruptcy--still too soon to muffle the "Palin Bomb". Olbermann seems to have no problem celebrating the pain suffered by the hundreds of people who lost their jobs today, on the chance it might help his horse in this election. Completely shameless.
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, we had Sean, we had Bill, we had Rupe. Since we had Bill, that meant O'Reilly Attack #510, which sort of seeped into the Worst nod. So, we'll knock these down in order.
Worse was Sean Hannity for criticism of Obama. Fixed News! [Ding!] Future combat systems! McCain attack.
Worse was Attack #510. Billo the Clown! [Ding!] Cindy Adams was attacked, too, for writing a positive piece in the New York Post about Bill's new memoir "A Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity." (Or as Sister Mary Lurana put it some 50 years ago, "William! You are a *bold,* fresh piece of humanity!") On OlbyPlanet, KeithO the Klown besmirched the title. How would Sister Mary feel? "His mantra," Keithy scoffed. Bill "reads Republican Talking Points [Ding!] for a living." Hypocrite! He "exposes" himself as such "every 12 minutes." "So, succeeding in your career is out." Bill's critics "make millions off criticizing you." So, "humiliating your critics is out, too. (fake hesitation): Better luck...next life?"
Worst was Mr. Murdoch. The down under pirate voice was used, featuring the guttural (or guttersnipural) "Arr." What Olbsessor quoted made another Mike C. prediction come true. Thursday at Inside Cable News, I left the following comment:
"This is WPitW fodder. I know it."
The fodder was Rupert saying "it's okay for [Keith] to criticize Bill. *And Bill shouldn't be so sensitive. He should ignore that.*" The thing is BOR *has* ignored Man on Fan. The only time I heard his name uttered was when Bill quoted a column from former NBC military analyst Col. Ken Allard (in the wake of Bill Arkin's "mercenary--oops, sorry, volunteer--force" line), botching the pronunciation. Where do you think we get "Olbermahn" from? O'Reilly has instead focused on the media corruption at (MS)NBC, and gone after their parent company, GE. Isn't that better than getting into a feud with Krazy Keith?
Back on OlbyPlanet, Fat Ass feigned shock and pleasure in Rupert suggesting BOR should ignore his Olbsessed fan and not be sensitive, cheap shotting Murdoch at the same time by saying "you've ruined one country and you're trying to ruin another country." OlbyLie: "I gave you value for money launching Fox Sports Net..." Keith joined what is now FSN in 1999, one year after various regional sports channels merged to become Fox Sports Net. "You're telling O'Reilly to ignore my bait? The bait that the poor dumb fish takes every time?" Within seconds, Another Olbermann Lie! As I said above, Bill has not taken the bait. Maybe he did a few years ago, but no longer. Pretending to choke up, Edward R. Olbermoronn finished: "And...and you call yourself a businessman?!" What can you say after that? Unbelievable.
youngjim & The Factor: non-barking dogs:
Obama accused of talking to Iraqis to slow down the troop movement home.
Troopergate run by Obama bootlickers (she has something to hide if she doesn't talk to Obama's people).
Obaman favorite community organizing group (ACORN) is in hot water again in Cleveland and Detroit for registering more non-existent voters.
Katy Turic:
Countdown is a moonbat parade
One hour of endless tirade
No rebut from the right
Because Olby can't fight
And his "news show" is a charade.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 863rd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who did such an assiduously good job tonight with a thoroughly thankless task!
The opening spiel proved that Keith Oralmann is as predictable as Pavlov's dog in a bell factory. As we wrote over an hour before the show aired:
We can guarantee this. You can literally bet the house on it. Tonight's Palin Smear Headline will be: "She Doesn't Know What the Bush Doctrine Is".
And what did Krazy Keith bellow in his trademark carnival barker fashion in the opening spiel? You guessed it:
OLBERMANN: Gov Palin doesn't know what the Bush doctrine is!
It's like he's not even trying any more. [Note: updated with bonus OlbyBashing video!]
Of course, Mr Misogyny had to find some degrading sexist terminology to smear Palin with, so...
philly:
The Orange One says Palin is a talking model with a pull string that says the same thing over and over again. He called her a doll. Olby, we can always count on you to disparage women (particularly those over 40) and continually lower the bar for smear merchants just like yourself.
I think Gov. Palin gave a good answer to the smug, condescending Charlie Gibson about the alleged "Bush Doctrine," which is a creation of the left-wing media. She also looked very annoyed at his rudeness. [The writer who coined the term, Charles Krauthammer, agrees with you, Philly. --J$]
Olby, you called Gov Palin a liar for saying she deployed National Guard to LA. But Gov. Bobby Jindal said recently that she did exactly that in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. And that's basically what she told Charlie Gibson when she responded to his question about dispatching Guard troops. You are the liar, Olby, but we already knew that.
SeattleJohn: What Olberdouche doesn't tell you from the Palin interview -
(a) Olby *again* (how many nights in a row?) says she lied about the bridge to nowhere - what Keithy doesn't tell you is that even the website run by the Alaska Democratic Party gives credit for her stopping the project.
(b) The Orange one hits her on the"seeing war with Russia"... however, her statement in favor of having Ukraine and Georgia in NATO is the same as... Obama's *and* Biden's.
(c) Fat Ass slams her comments about hitting terrorists in Pakistan... but, in what I'm sure is another oversight, forgets to mention her comments were essentially the same as (you guessed it) Obama's.
(d) Olby sneers at her lack of foreign travel... and that she hasn't met with any heads of state. He says every "Vice President in the the last 32 years has met a head of state before taking office". Notice the "before taking office" qualifier to attempt to smear Palin... I'd bet a lot of money that when Palin is elected VP she too will meet with heads of state *before* taking office 2+ months later.
(e) Olby called her a liar on whether she ever called up the National Guard... except, he must have forgotten that she actually did... she had Alaskan National Guard troops deployed to Louisana for hurricane Gustav (found in less than a minute with Google).
At one point, the condescending Olby-jerk says that, if elected, the female VP nominee Palin would be the Chief Executive's assistant. Way to stay classy Olberboy!
J$:
The Wolffe Man and Krazy Keith had a field day cackling over Palin's statements about Georgia and NATO. In fact, they even attacked her for supporting Georgia's admission into NATO. Said Wolffie: Imagine if Barack Obama had said that!
Notably [Obama], like McCain, embraces Georgia's aspirations to enter NATO -- the key plank of a hawkish stand toward Russia, and a key source of Russia's anger.(Both McCain and Obama are reiterating past positions here.)
"I have consistently called for deepening relations between Georgia and transatlantic institutions, including a Membership Action Plan for NATO, and we must continue to press for that deeper relationship," Obama says.
Olby and The Wolffman. Two incompetent, slovenly political hacks.
And then we are treated to an interview with Screw 'Em himself. For the first time, Herr Olbermann does a disclaimer that he sometimes posts at Daily Kos. After Olbermann Watch has hammered him for this ethical lapse repeatedly So count this as another triumph for the power and influence of this site!
We got a bell moment tonight. Bathtub Boy cited Charles Babington of the AP as a source for criticism over McCain ads. Yes, the same Babington who Fat Ass screamed at two weeks ago: "Get new work!" But not tonight. If you agree with Olby, you're permitted to exist and have a job. So all that is forgotten in a flash. But it was good enough for Olbermoronn to suggest to Screw 'Em that all this criticism of McCain represents a--get ready for it--"tipping point!" [Ding!] Surprise surprise, Screw 'Em agreed: Yeth, it ith a tipping point. (By the way, since Screw 'Em is a partisan Democrat, that means we get to update The List yet again!)
philly:
Ugh. Markos Molitsos refers to the trash, lies and slander posted on the Daily Kos as "invethtigative reporting". Clear-thinkers refer to moonbat bile-spewing bloggers like Molitsos as delusional nut-cases.
dfunk55:
investigative reporting...more like smearing and hate-filled posts about who should be killed...at least right wing blogs don't want to kill people.
Castle: Yes Olby only "infrequently" post at that whack job website, of course he considers "infrequently" TWO posts on KOS yesterday. [Total: 19 articles and 172 comments--J$] Name one other "journalist" that would post on such a hate filled web site. Olby is a complete tool and nothing but a professional smear merchant and gossip monger.
SBMich:
Lets have a history lesson: KO wasn't at the RNC beause he "wanted" to be back in NY covering the hurricane hitting New Orleans. To "prove" that pont, he led off that Monday night with news regarding said hurricane. Tonight, an even larger storm is hitting Texas. KO barely mentions it. Conclusion: definate proof that KO was a coward when not attending RNC. GUTLESS!
MikeC:
Edward R. Olbermann tried to play serious newsman for the hurricane segment. Tape of Jay Gray in Galveston. Keithy pretended he was actually talking to the tape coming into it and then coming out of it.
After Gotcha clips of the McCains on "The View," we got McCain in the Membrane. Oy my goodness. "Next!"
The Media Matters Minute:
Worse was Rudy Giuliani. Saw it coming. "Continuing his comeback attempt by...lying like a rug." Ha! He's got a million of 'em. Fixed News! [Ding!] Bush Doctrine! If you want to see the real thing, go here to see the segment of "Hannity & Colmes" that was doctored. The undoctored version of what Bear quoted (in that lispy voice) can be found with about 4:34 remaining. Rudy's line about Wikipedia, which was challenged by Alan Colmes (the invisible man on OlbyPlanet) was mocked by our resident Fat Ass, who went on to defend Wikipedia's Bush Doctrine entry as "carefully and neutrally" described. "The words 'irresponsible' and 'war monger' appear exactly...nnoooooo times, not even under the appendix at the end titled 'Criticism.' (deep inhalation): Rudy just made that up."
Worser was Lou Dobbs. I'm a broken record, but how dare he tell the truth about Herr Olbermann! I was going to recap Keithy's attack verbatim, but it was too painful to do so. Let's just say Another Olbermann Lie occurred when he claimed he never went after Lou's children. He promptly went on to accuse him of "hiding behind your daughter's skirts."
Worst was...Alessandra Stanley?! Are you kidding me?! No. You see, she "attacked" the sainted Charles Gibson. This...will...not...stand! No, forget it. I have no damn energy left. Sorry, folks.
youngjim:
Olby mocking Rudy Giuliani's lisp (calling him Sylvester). Of course, Kos has the same lisp, but adds a heaving chest in obvious excitement of the attention paid him by Olb.
J$:
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 22 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 13 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. Plus he gets a special added -10 factor for his insufferable codswallop that "responsible television networks" don't run the 9/11 footage, just about 12 hours before his own channel did exactly that: ran the 9/11 footage--not once, but twice! That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -80 [eunuch limp].
Finally "Man on Fan" Olbermann tossed it to Rachel Madcow, and did his obligatory chit-chat with her to try to keep her ratings from bottoming out. In the course of it, Olbermoronn declared that the election of McCain-Palin was "a terrifying prospect". Ya gotta wonder, why did it take A-Mess-NBC two years to figure out Edward R Olbermann is a slovenly political hack, not an anchorman?
Katy Turic:
Standby for two hours of trashing
Sarah and John McCain bashing
Brought to you by
Keith and that guy
Campaign with no dollars cashing!
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 860th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
UPDATE:Bonus video! The comments by Lou Dobbs that caused Monkeymann to pop a gasket:
Keith Olbermann Names Himself Worst Person in the World?!?
In tonight's Special Education Komment diatribe, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann said something that caught our ear. In fact, he said something so outrageous and offensive that it makes him the Worst Person in the World. According to his own words. We have the damning video for your viewing pleasure:
There were the usual repetitions of Oralmann's favorite lies (for the 89th time, Palin never said she sold the plane on eBay--Gawd, are you that insulated or do you simply not care if you ever spew the truth?). But the great moment tonight came from Edward R Olbermann named himself Worst Person in the World.What? How can that be, you ask? Read on and you will see.
philly: Barry tank dweller Chris Kofinis claims the campaign is going to hit McCain and Palin "hard and fast". Wasn't Barry supposed the be the "Candidate of Change" who would elevate the campaign above the old politics of dissent and smears? And now Kofinis says Barry is about to go on the attack (or his lawyers are, anyway). More moonbat lies and hypocrisy. And did Olby just try to tie the Minnesota bridge collapse and Sarah Palin together in the same sentence? Unbelievable.
dcmeyer:
Mental heath expert obly claiming McCain suffering from "projection" about Gov. Palin and Lipstick comment by Barry. Olby claimed McCain was dealing from the bottom of the deck is his supposed attacks on Obama and that he was manufacturing outrage over the Palin remarks. The Wolffeman agreed that the remarks were "innocent" and McCain "lies" and "swiftboats" Obama. Obama isn't going to put up with McCain's "bullcrap" anymore.
#4 Obama taking off the gloves in regards to 527's. Disgraced Edwards minion Chris Kofinis calls McCain mean and says Obama good, McCain has no solutions. Kofinis went on to say that McCain's policies will make the country worse off. #3 Palin "scandals" Olby claimed Palin family members harrassed the unstable brother-in-law. Olby lies again about the jet and bridge to nowhere. Geno Robinson is brought in to once again agree with fat ass. Olby gives Biden debate advice!
Seattle John:
#4 - Obama says enough is enough. Kofinis then says that "If Sarah hits, (they need) to hit back and hit back hard!" LOL, I think when Obama says 'enough is enough' he must actually be talking about how Sarah Palin and her popularity has gotten into his campaign's head. Number 3 was Olberass being concerned that the Palin family was in a custody fight, between Sarah's sister and her young-son-tazing husband, and that a judge didn't like all the negative things that were said by the parties. Oooooh, negative comments in a custody/divorce hearing. What a scoop! Part of this story was a side-track about the 'bridge to nowhere'. I'm sure it was the time constraints on the segment, but Olby forgot to mention that both Obama and Biden voted multiple times to *fund* the project -and- never opposed it.
MikeC:
#2: The Media Matters Minute. Worser was Felix Gillette the New York Observer. Yet again, I say: How dare they tell the truth about the chaos zone at (MS)NBC. (rapidly): "Not only does Andrea [Mitchell] say she never said that. She says she never said anything at that dinner, and Mr. Gillette and the New York Observer never contacted her or anybody at NBC News for a comment or a denial; one of the reasons Andrea Mitchell is 8,000 times the reporter *he* is." More PR/damage control by Attack Dog Olbermann.
Worst was Rick Goddard (retired Air Force Major General), a Republican running for Congress in Georgia's 8th District. Once again, Jane Fonda Olbermann went after a serviceman. His crime was referring to NBC's Ron Allen as a "very uppity newscaster." The "crime" occurred last week at the RNC when Ron interviewed Newt Gingrich on the convention floor. And Rip 'n Read is only talking about this now? Hmm. Wonder why. Seriously, it was dumb of him to do that, and Rev. Jesse Olbermahn played the race card. Out comes the accusatory paper. (gleeful sarcasm, rightward head tilt): "Great, General, but you *said* 'uppity'...which is traditionally followed...(flashing paper toward camera, grin turns to disgust): by the N-word!"
That brings us to O'Reilly Attack #509. Of course. Why not attack the guy who actually sat down with Obama one-on-one? Bathtub Boy stayed in his bubble and spoke via satellite. Billo the Clown! [ding!] Bill was "lying about the ratings again." Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann trotted out the Ted Baxter voice and proved me right. Here's what I said yesterday at Johnny Dollar's Place:
BOR is going to refer to KO in tonight's Talking Points Memo. I predict this will make BOR a Worst Person tomorrow night.
Bill ended up only referring to (MS)NBC, but was, as usual, quite critical of them. Here is the T-Points transcript and video.
Keithy pimped out the demo numbers for the DNC, looking down at a paper...again. "In what Fox calls the all-important advertising demographic, 25 to 54-year-old viewers, for the Democratic Convention, MSNBC beat Fixed News [ding!] in primetime an average of...917,000, 820,000...12%. Fox, last. 86 years in television, Bill, and you still don't understand the ratings?" Look who's lecturing whom about ratings.
J$:
And then, saved for the last Nielsen moment, tonight's Special Education Komment. See the appendix below for the full text, complete with our special annotations of the performance instructions to Oralmann, plus our exclusive OlbyRobot dramatic reading. But one glaring example of Olbypocrisy needs to be highlighted and pointed out, because it shows that no matter how vapid and empty a vessel you may think Krazy Keith is, he's really worse. Way down deep he's shallow. And a stone hypocrite.
Tonight he accused John McCain of putting on pretend, phony, nonexistent grief over the victims of 9/11. The mocking tone couldn't have been clearer:
Senator, as you and your Republicans shed your phony, crocodile, opportunistic tears tomorrow on 9/11 TM, in front of the utterly disingenuous banner "Country First"...
Hmm. Why does that sound familiar? Maybe because it sounds like something John Gibson once said--something that led Bathtub Boy to excoriate John Gibson as "worst person in the world"! To wit:
Gibby played a tape of comedian Jon Stewart's heartfelt anguish from September 20th... Gibson and his producer mocked it. He called it Jon Stewart sobbing. That idiot sidekick called Stewart a, quote, phony....
Jon Stewart's expression of pain after 9/11 and yours, Gibby, and mine, that was the unity. No matter what kind of administration propagandist I think you are and how I will mock you for it, I would never doubt the sincerity of your pain. You have a lot of damn nerve doubting the sincerity of anyone else's. John Gibson, today's Worst Person in the World.
Yeah, Herr Olbermann would never doubt the sincerity of someone else's pain over 9/11. Hey, Fat Ass! You have a lot of damn nerve doubting the sincerity of anyone's, including John McCain's. By your own words, you have just named yourself Worst Person in the World!
Katy Turic:
Keith's no longer the "breaking news guy"
David Gregory told Keith "bye-bye"
Gave him a pimp slap
Now Keith wears a dunce cap
And that's making the Kos Kids cry
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 858th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted". Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
APPENDIX: Tonight's Special Education Komment dramatic reading by the OlbyRobot [file now uploaded--enjoy!]:
APPENDIX: Tonight's Special Education Komment (annotated):
As promised, a Special Comment about our sad anniversary tomorrow.
Or, more correctly, what our sad anniversary tomorrow has been turned into by the presidential administration, and the current Republican candidates for President and Vice President.
This is supposed to be a day of remembrance. Remembrance of the attack, remembrance of the national unity which followed it.
[head shake]
Most important of all, remembrance of the dead.
But 9/11 has become a brand name. A Republican campaign slogan. Propaganda of the lowest form. 9/11 has become...
[insert sigh here]
...9/11 with a trademark logo.
9/11 (TM) has sustained a president who long ago should have been dismissed, or impeached. It has kept him and his gang of financial and constitutional crooks in office without -- literally -- any visible means of support.
[look down at imaginary notes]
9/11 (TM) has made possible the greatest sleight-of-hand in our nation's history.
The political party in office at the time of the attacks, at the local, state and national levels, the party which uniformly ignored the warnings and the presidential administration already through twenty percent of its first term and no longer wet behind the ears, have not only thus far escaped any blame for the malfeasance and criminal neglect that allowed the attacks to occur, but that presidency and that party, have managed to make it seem as if the other political party would be solely and irredeemably responsible for any similar catastrophe in the future.
[look down, camera pivot #1]
Thus, Sen. McCain, were you able to accomplish a further inversion of reality at your party's nominating convention last week.
There was the former Mayor of the City of New York, the one who took no counter-terrorism measure in his seven years in office between the first attack on the World Trade Center, and the second attack.
Nothing, except to insist, despite all advice and warning, that his Emergency Command Center be moved directly into the World Trade Center.
[ramp up the volume here]
Yet there was this man, Sir, Rudolph Giuliani, quite succinctly dismissed as "A Noun, a Verb, and 9/11," and repudiated even by Republican voters, transformed into the keynote speaker, Sen. McCain at your convention.
And his childish, squealing, braying, Tourette's-like repetition of 9/11 (TM), was greeted not as conclusive evidence that he is consumed by massive guilt - hard-earned guilt, in fact but rather as some kind of political tour-de-force, an endorsement of your Vice Presidential nominee, a rookie governor, a facile and slick con artist.
The blind endorsing the bland, to a chorus of 9/11 (TM), 9/11 (TM), 9/11 (TM.)
Your ringing mindless cheer of "We've Kept You Safe Since Then." While nobody asks "doesn't then count?"
All of this, sadistically disrespecting the dead of New York, and Washington, and Shanksville. Endorsed, Sen. McCain. Exploited, Sen. McCain. Trademarked, Sen. McCain by you.
[use the look of sadness as you glance downward, and don't forget camera pivot #2]
And yet of course the exact moment in which Sen. McCain's Republicans showed the nation exactly how far they have fallen from the Better Angels of Mr. Lincoln's Nature, came the next night.
The television networks were told that the Convention would pause, early in the evening, when children could still be watching, for a 9/11 Tribute, and they were encouraged to broadcast that tribute.
What we got was not a tribute to the dead of 9/11, nor even a tribute to the responders, or the singularity of purpose we all felt. The Republicans gave us sociological pornography, a virtual snuff film.
Years ago, responsible television networks, to the applause of this nation, and the relief of of its mental health authorities, voluntarily stopped showing the most graphic of the images of the World Trade Center, except with the strongest of warnings.
And yet, the Republicans, at their convention, having virtually seized control of the cable news operations, showed the worst of it.
This is all anyone with a conscience can show you of what the Republicans showed you. The actual collapse of the smoking towers.
A fleeting image of what might have been a victim leaping to his death from a thousand feet up. And something new. From this angle, ground-level, perfectly framed images, of the fireball created when the second plane hit the second tower.
It was terrifying.
[raise the eyebrows; they're big so that always gets attention]
After all its object was to terrify. Not to commemorate, not to call for unity, not to remember the dead. But to terrify.
To open again the horrible wounds, to brand the skin of this nation with the message -- as hateful as the terrorists' own, that you must vote Republican or this will happen again and you will die.
And just in case that was not enough, to also dishonestly and profanely conflate 9/11 with the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis...
[use the voice of incredulity here]
...to stoke the flames of paranoia about another Middle Eastern Nation.
This was a 9/11 Tribute. Not to the dead, nor to the unity. But a tribute to how valuable 9/11 has been as a political tool for the Republican Party. 9/11... (TM.)
[pause, camera pivot #3]
Sen. McCain, you had promised us a clean campaign. You could be Snow-White the rest of the way, Sir, yet that manipulative videotape from your convention should tar you always in the minds of decent Americans.
And still, as this seventh 9/11 (TM) approaches that, Sir, is not the worst of your contributions to the utter politicizing of a day that should be sacrosanct to all of us.
[again, look down at pretend notes; gotta firm up that Edward R Murrow image]
Hard to believe, but the Senator has done worse with 9/11 and the evil behind it.
We heard it last week in Minnesota, we've heard it off and on since January but Senator McCain said it most concisely in June.
"Look," he said. "I know the area, I've been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden -- or put it this way, bring him to justice. We will do it. I know how to do it."
Sen. McCain seems to be quite serious, that he and he alone, not the CIA, nor the U.S. Military, nor the current President can capture bin Laden.
Thus we must take him at his word, that this is no mere ludicrous campaign boast.
We must assume Sen. McCain truly believes he is capable of doing this, and has been capable of doing this, since last January. "We will capture Osama bin Laden... we will do it. I know how to do it."
[OK, this is the first screaming moment; make sure you shake you head as you bellow into the camera--and remember this is camera pivot #4]
Well then, Senator, you'd better go and do it hadn't you?
Because, Sir, if a man or woman in this nation, Democrat or Republican, had a clear and effective means of capturing or killing Osama bin Laden...
If that person had been advertising his claim, Senator for eight months.
[louder!]
But if that person not only refused to go to responsible authorities in government and advise them of this plan to catch bin Laden, but further announced he would not even begin to enact this secret plan to corral the world's most hated man until the end of next January.
[wave your papers around here as you ramp up the decibels]
What would be your description of such an individual, Senator? Charlatan? Do-nothing? Opportunist? Sen. McCain, if you have, if you have had a means of capturing Osama bin Laden, and you do not immediately inform some responsible authority of the full scope of that plan, you are to some degree great or small aiding and abetting Osama bin Laden.
If you could assist in capturing him now, Sen. McCain, but you have chosen not to you, Sir, have helped Osama bin Laden stay free.
[keep building here; use the irate head shake, and a bit of spittle wouldn't hurt either]
Free to inspire and supervise the terrorists. Free to plan or execute attacks here.
[scream; turn it up to 11]
You, Sir, are blackmailing some portion of the American electorate into voting for your party, by promising to help in the capture of bin Laden only if you are made president!
[ok back off a bit; look down, and use the voice of disgust]
I'd rather win an election than catch bin Laden! No more cynical calculation has ever been made in this nation's history, Sir. If you lose the election, Senator, are you not going to tell the President-Elect?
Are you intending to keep this a secret until the next election and your party's next nominee?
[now crank it up again; this is the personal attack/name calling portion and we have to sell it to the Kossacks]
Senator, as you and your Republicans shed your phony, crocodile, opportunistic tears tomorrow on 9/11 TM, in front of the utterly disingenuous banner "Country First," the fact is, you have shown that it is John McCain first, and the country last.
The fact is, Sir, by holding out on your secret plan to catch bin Laden by searing those images into our collective wounded American psyche at your nomination last week, terrorists are not what you, John McCain, fight. Terrorists are what you, John McCain, use.
[look down and to the left; use the voice of loathing]
New Olbermann Demands Revealed: No Hard Heels or Fingernails!
It was inevitable that Dr Mark Levin would respond to Bathtub Boy's latest attack. And respond he did. In the course of doing so, Dr Levin revealed some of the tidbits that emailers have been sending him about the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. No high heels? Trim those fingernails? No wonder Dr Levin calls him a mental case. We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
Keith Olbermann annihilated in the ratings; pimps out Maddow!
DailyKos's own Keith "Monkey" Olbermann posted an entry this evening in an effort to prop up his stooge who now has her own show. Over at loony land, Herr Olbermann resorted to his usual (and painfully lame) attacks on "Fixed News!" [Ding!] and "The Zombie Channel!" [Ding!]
In a laughable attempt to keep his ego in check, Fat Ass goes on to say "Rachel drew 1,543,000 viewers in total at 9 PM last night. Not only was that better (by 160,000) than Larry King, but it was the second highest number of total viewers in Primetime, not counting Fixed News. Modesty precludes me from saying who was ahead of her on that list." Of course, another small fact is that both Keith and Mr. Bill has the Obamessiah on for an interview.
Der Fuhrer left out the fact that the great Satan, Big Bill, scored a:
The O'Reilly Factor- 4,572,000 viewers (1,143,000) (1,848,000) while the demoted anchor had to get a shovel and dig himself a deep hole at:
Countdown w. Keith Olbermann- 1,928,000 viewers (607,000) (977,000)
Now, he may have come in second, but a very distant second. Oh and Ms. Maddow?
Gibson Celebrates Keith's Demotion, Gives Credit to Olbermann Watch!
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann has finally been taken down a peg, and last night John Gibson took a well-deserved victory lap. Gibby credited Hot Air, Newsbusters, and Olbermann Watch for holding Bathtub Boy's feet to the fire and making this glorious development possible. We have the audio for your listening pleasure (don't miss the Olbyloon who calls in to disagree):
The spin started with the opening spiel: can Obama get his message out in the face of the Republican "wall of noise"? Oh, and we got the first lie of the night: Palin's "claim" that she sold her plane on ebay. Of course she said no such thing, but it's never too early for Another Olbermann Lie, and the opening spiel is a traditional spot for the first one of the night. In fact, as you will see, we get to three OlbyLies in just three minutes. So settle back, it's a Blue Monday on The Hour of Spin, starring the demoted ex-anchorman Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann!
Those wascally Wepublicans repeat daily "out and out lies", such as the claim that Palin "has always been against" the Bridge to Nowhere. Man, just two minutes into the show and we have another Olbermann lie!. That's not what she said. Brief mention of polls (McCain gained "a point or two"), and zero mention of that definitive, all-important, critical, much-respected Gallup likely voters poll. You know, the one Edward R Olbermann shouted over Joe Scarborough to trumpet when McCain lost a few points. Today McCain is up ten points in that poll, but of course Herr Olbermann made no mention of it. Because he's a slovenly political hack.
Oralmann goes on to cite that phony "lie", claiming that the new McCain ad repeats the claim that Palin has "always been against" the bridge. Three minutes in, we have the Third Olbermann Lie. The ad makes no such claim! In tribute to Oralmann we should say this is the Third Olbermann Out-And-Out Lie.
Then the blue dress interview, where as usual Edward R Olbermann's penetrating questions are so much more interesting than the stammering answers. (Of course, do not fail to check out the newly-updated edition of The List!) So we will run down the tough interrogatories that KO pummeled Obama with:
Tactics have replaced issues altogether. Palin sounds a little like Remington Steele. She favored the bridge before becoming mayor and then opposed it. What are these Republicans trying to do with this new commercial?
Palin hired a lobbyist to get earmarks. That goes against the basic platform of the Republican party. When stuff is a gross distortion, why do people hesitate to use the word "lie"?
The most compelling moment of your acceptance speech: "Enough". A lot of people have that same sense of urgency and simplicity. Have you thought of using more exclamation points and getting angrier?
The race is close, and nobody is bursting into laughter at Republican ads. Have the Republicans succeeded in muddying up this election?
Is this Fannie/Freddie situation adding 5 trillion dollars to the national debt? (Olby clearly doesn't understand how this works and Obama has to explain to him why his numbers are all off.)
The Republicans talked 00:00:00 about the economy at their convention. Are you better off than you were eight years ago?
Rachel Maddow wanted me to ask this question. (Professionalism on display!) Since you got called uppity can we get the 527s going to fight back?
This is a question I've never heard asked. (Ambulance to ER, prepare to admit a man who broke his arm patting himself on the back.) Is Palin qualified to be vice-President? (Obama ducked.)
JustinH:
Olbermann interviews Obama by checking off each talking point and giving Obama about 3 or more uninterrupted minutes to give his speech, uh, answer.
J$:
#3: Palin lies. And she repeats her lies again and again. Fat Ass picks up a Palin "mistake" about Fannie/Freddie (Blue Blog Source: Huffington Post) that wasn't a mistake at all. Earth to Oralmann: they are too expensive to the taxpayers, because the taxpayers are having to bail them out! How stupid is this guy anyhow?
As Olby chuckles about how she doesn't understand the mortgage crisis, we are supposed to forget how Obama had to correct Bathtub Boy just minutes earlier. Then Olby claimed that Palin announced to the GOP convention that she had "sold the plane on ebay". Olbermann Out-and-Out Lie #4. That's not what she said. Enough of this segment. The Olbermann Lies are coming too thick and too fast.
Somewhere in there Krazy Keith tossed in a few grenades at Hannity and "lunatic right-wing radio host" [Ding!] "psychotic" Mark Levin (mispronounced twice--gotta love that sportscaster training).
#1 meant more time for Palin attacks. This time the target was her religion. How dare she pray? After all, on OlbyPlanet, they don't pray. They prey. After an improper use of the phrase "begs the question" (again, that sportscaster training is invaluable to a broadcaster), Edward R Olbermann went and read the same text two or three times, asking, duh?!?, is my microphone open? No, but your yap is. Over and over.
That led into a bash-Sarah session with Rachel Madcow, to plug her upcoming show. You know like he always did with Dan Abrams. Oh, what's that. He didn't? Oh that's right. Palin's "Elmer Gantry", don't you know! Because mocking someone's religion is in the fine tradition of Edward R Murrow. And Keithy is the next Edward R Murrow. Just ask his ego.
philly:
Speaking of prayers, FatAss: I prayed that NBC would kick you and The Drooler off the anchor desk during political coverage. God answered my prayers. I wonder what else I could pray for...hmmm.....
merkle923:
Olberathiest passes the baton to Mister Madcow with a segway trashing God. No wonder no one watches (MS)NBC.
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, Keith Oralmann proved yet again why we call him Rip 'n Read. Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann dished out O'Reilly Attack #508, falling in line with Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (coming to her aide in the process) and Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show," all of whom had the blue blog source for which this segment is named: Media Matters. We'll get to the attack momentarily. First, came two other unfortunate victims.
Worse was Fox NFL color analyst Brian Baldinger. Yes, Chicken and Waffles is now attacking his "Football Night in America" competition. Why? Well, while complimenting Michael Strahan (on the pregame show, I assume), he made a reference to Sarah Palin. Horrors of horrors! Snarky comeback time: "I thought it was some other idiot on some other network who was going to bring the Presidential race where it didn't belong..." Yes, Fat Ass, that makes up for Russell Brand at last night's MTV Video Music Awards. That's such a valid comparison. (I can be snarky and sarcastic, too.) With a curled lip and sneer, he finished his sentence: "...on to the *football* broadcasts." Now, comes the papers in hand: "Actually, this one is a twofer. Michael Strahan is no Dan Patrick." Well...no. Strahan is an in-studio analyst; Patrick narrates highlights. So, obviously he "is no Dan Patrick," but that doesn't diminish him. And, of course, Michael Strahan is a Super Bowl champion, and he has the ring to prove it. I digress.
Worser was Chris Wallace. Fixed News! [ding!] "Be careful with those sweeping declarative statements, Chrissy!" Also, "Wally"! Dumb guy voice for Wallace; mock voice for McCain as Keithy plays Gotcha!, quoting a "Meet the Press" appearance in early 2007. "So, Chris, Senator McCain was doubting about the surge before he was for it, before he took credit for it. Those Talking Points [ding!] don't come with footnotes, do they?" We could ask the same of Olbermoronn.
Worst was the aforementioned O'Reilly Attack #508. Rip 'n Read joined the far-left chorus of calling Mr. Bill a hypocrite because he was not critical of Gov. Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy, but *was* of the Spears parents when Jamie Lynn was pregnant. Again, with sarcasm, that's such a valid comparison. Last Tuesday's Talking Points Memo that Brock and Co. distorted can be found here *undistorted*:
Billo the Clown! [ding!] "The pattern has now emerged: criticize him in a newspaper, and he'll send out..." He went on to attack Jesse Watters and Porter Berry. Stalker producers! [ding!] "Latest victim: Pulitzer Prize winning Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She had the nerve to remind her readers that on the occasion of previous teen pregnancy in the news, Billo [ding!] followed the Talking Points [ding!]. Just as comedian [ding!] Rush Limbaugh immediately announced of the bun in the Jamie Lynn Spears oven. Quote [ding!]..." Yes, the ol' Ted Baxter voice made its return, quoting what Media Matters put out: video of a December Pinheads and Patriots segment in which the Spears parents were the Pinheads for the night. Harry Reasoner would be so proud of Edward R. Olbermann trotting that out attack after attack. "17-year-old daughter of a political figure gets pregnant, announces she's gonna marry the father, *out of bounds* as a story for analysis, something with which I entirely concur." Is he kidding? "*But*!...16-year-old television actress gets pregnant, announces *she's* gonna marry the father, a field day for naked, flabby hypocrites like...Billo the Clown [ding!] Today's...I'm sorry about the naked and flabby part..." Too late. "...Worst...Person...in the Worrrrrlduh!"
J$:
Of course what Keith was doing here was brilliantly subtle. He was equating Palin with Mother Spears, and Jamie Lynn with Palin's daughter. Because, you know, same parenting, same supervision, same warning signs, same everything. And any time Krazy Legs can try to make people think Palin's daughter has a history of unsupervised recklessness equivalent to that of Jamie Lynn Spears, and attack O'Reilly at the same time--hey, that's a twofer on OlbyPlanet. Besides, Olbsessions never get old.
hailstate:
So, now he's using his stupid show to attack his competitors on the sports side? Jeez, the world certainly revolves around you, Keith.
Katy Turic:
"I'm the breaking news guy" he spews
Mister Olbermahn, we have some news
It's duly noted
You've been demoted
David Gregory's in and you lose.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 856th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Mark Levin Slams Keith Olbermann over the RNC 9/11 Tribute Video!
We've all seen the clips: Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann responding to the RNC 9/11 tribute with his trademark manufactured outrage--complete with the catch in the voice and a healthy dose of theatrical indignation. It was all too much for Dr Mark Levin, and we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
UPDATE: Olby wasn't in Friday night, but A-Mess-NBC's new "star" was. And guess what? The Doctor lied!
Why is the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann not smiling? Could it be last night's Palin address, that he castigated as "sarcastic"? Yes, the height in Olbypocrisy, but there you are. Could it be that his cohorts on the air didn't appreciate him comparing Palin to a Harry Potter character? (Man, bubblegum cards and Harry Potter books. What's Oralmann's next passion going to be, Dr Seuss?!?) Not to mention Olby comparing her to a well-known movie villainess? Or could it be last night's ratings?
For whatever reason, it's not exactly happy time for Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann. Even so, he will be there tonight, with the likes of the yellow-haired drooler, to present the Kos point of view. Of course, the vast majority of viewers will prefer watching the Wolf pack, or the Fox gang, including Mr Bill O'Reilly and his special guest:
Comments are open for tonight's convention festivities!
UPDATE: Well it apparently didn't take long for Oralmann to show his true colors tonight. If this email is accurate, it's another new low is slovenly political hackdom for Edward R Olbermann, MSNBC's Bathtub Boy in a Bubble:
Keith Olbermann basically called the GOP shameful for showing a 9/11 tribute video, and said that if any network showed that much video of the events surrounding 9/11 that they'd be rightfully criticized. He looked so angry, I thought his head was going to explode. You have to see a clip of this. Just when I think he can't possibly be any more blatantly against us, he pulls something like this.
Yes, Edward R Olbermann, who remains "down the middle" when he's anchoring news events, did raise crocodile tears over this horrible "exploitation" of the dead. Mind you this is the same Herr Olbermann who repeatedlymade an issue of getting public photos of flag-draped coffins, regardless of the wishes of the families. That's not exploitation, oh no. But remember, hypocrisy is coin of the realm on OlbyPlanet.
Wednesday Convention Thread w/Bonus Blue Blog Dramatizations!
It's another night of Edward R Olbermann playing far-left Greek chorus to the yellow-haired drooler and his cohorts in St Paul. As the ratings show, A-Mess-NBC's coverage is really working out well for them: just barely beating Headline News for fourth place!
As always, you can watch Brit and the Fox gang, the Wolf pack, or Bathtub Boy in a Bubble, safe away from the terrorist Republicans but still able to snipe and relay talking points from Daily Kos/NBC.
Toward that end, we have some special entertainment for when you can't take another minute of Edward R Olbermann's shameless shilling. Here's another installment of John Gibson's world-famous Blue Blog Dramatizations. It's an expert distillation of Oralmann's thought-processes (after all, he does his "research" at these sites) and so represents what you can expect from MSNBC's very own Legs Luthor. We have the audio for your listening pleasure...
Your open thread for tonight's festivities. Depending on what channel you watch, you will see the Wolf pack, the Fox gang, or Chris Matthews's leg with David Gregory's hair:
Comments are open!
UPDATE: Between commercials, Olbermann runs to Kos and boasts: "I'm the breaking news guy here"! You know, like Edward R Murrow would always tell people, "Hey, I'm the breaking news guy at CBS!"
O'Reilly Blasts Olbermann's Blog for Approved-by-NBC Palin Smears!
We are, of course, talking about the Daily Kos. Keith Olbermann's blog of choice. He raises money for them. He blogs there. He posts comments there, at all hours--even while he's on the air. He periodically invites King Markos himself onto The Hour of Spin to sit in the Seat of Honor (without disclosure of their relationship).
So when Keith Olbermann's blog decides to make Sarah Palin and her daughter the targets of gutter slanders based on zero evidence, it's not surprising that someone is going to call them out on it. Tonight, that role fell to Mr Bill O'Reilly, who gets props for noting that a certain Peacock commentator (the infamous, deplorable one) actually writes for the smear site:
We know that Keith Olbermann runs MSNBC. Does he run NBC News as well? Did he demand the right to post at this verminous pest hole? Why did Phil Griffin give Keith, and only Keith, his dispensation to write at a site whose partisan purposes and putrid practices are well known?
One thing is clear: by making this special exception for Keith and Kos, the Peacock network has given them both its imprimatur. As long as Keith Oralmann's bosses (if there are any left) permit him to keep contributing to the site, they are lending NBC's brand and credibility to the Daily Kos toilet. They have given Kos the NBC stamp of approval.
Get your Kos smears, verbal filth, and character assassination...now brought to you by NBC News.
UPDATE: MSM reporters in St Paul "rabid" over the smears and rumors from Kos/NBC. Just like with John Edwards, right?
UPDATE UPDATE: With nothing better to do, having maneuvered his way out of having to deal with those terrorists in St Paul, what better than to while away the hours posting on the NBC-approved Daily Kos, in a thread about Palin being part of a Karl Rove plot, chosen by McCain so he could meet more women?
MSNBC Yanks Olbermann from RNC Convention Coverage!
NBC has announced that Chris Matthews and the tonsorially enhanced David Gregory will be the co-hosts in St Paul. The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will stay in New York to bobble host hurricane coverage
One network staffer, who declined to be named describing private conversations, says MSNBC President Phil Griffin told him that "our audience hates Bush" and that squeezing conservative shows into a liberal lineup would just drive them away.
OLBERMANN: Chris Matthews, at St. Paul at the Xcel Center. I miss you already.
Meanwhile Jossip weighs in on the question of whether Keith being sidelined is just his way of avoiding those contrary viewpoints that make him "nauseous", or a slap-down from his bosses:
No doubt, the demotion will infuriate Olbermann. He's threatened to quit the network before if he doesn't get his way. Will he go to such extremes this time around?
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: It's official. Edward R Olbermann will sit out the convention in New York. But an insider ominously adds:
He'll co-anchor with Chris who will be on our Rice Park set.
Half a continent away from those dangerous terrorists, the Republican Party. It's Bathtub Boy in a Bubble!
As Olbermann Grins, Michael Moore Thanks God that Hurricane Gustav Will Hit the USA!
Yeah, it's a classic moment in the sort of journalism that began with Edward R Murrow, continued with Tom Brokaw, and now is de rigeur at MSNBC. And yeah, you can see the video at the Countdown website, or at Hot Air. But here at Olbermann Watch we like to put these things into OlbyPlanet perspective for you. And that's the purpose of this special remix:
UPDATE: You know you've moved beyond the lunatic fringe--out to where the busses don't run--when the Daily Kos thinks you've gone too far:
I had to turn Countdown off
What I don't get is his incoherent glee. His delivery was tasteless, and there's no excuse for it.
You can't begin to compare a rainstorm to ruin an outdoor speech and the potential disaster of a category 3 (4?) storm hitting an already struggling area. Really poor taste on moore's part, and Keith should have called him on it.
There is no excuse for the disgusting things Michael Moore said. And why didn't Keith rip him a new one? Keith has no problem attacking President Bush on a daily basis. But he's afraid to stand up to Michael Moore?
KO and MM have gone so far in their hatred for GWB and the Republicans that they appear to be rejoicing in any and all disasters that take place in our nation or around the world. The death of any soldier in Iraq, or the destruction of any home in New Orleans is no longer a tragedy to KO, rather it is more material for his show and his hatred of the President. How sad when persons like KO or MM actually take pleasure in the death and destruction of others.... Shame on Olbermann.
Michael Moore, object of upcoming satire "An American Carol"
Hoo boy, wait until you see what Moore crapped out tonight!
howard hughes:
I think tonight Keith was at his best sharp, articulate, and right on about McCains choice of a vp.
J$:
Too bad the bell was off tonight, because it would have been one [Ding!] after another for all the mentions of "beauty queen", "beauty pageant", etc. Yes, the well-known Olbermann objectifying and demeaning of women. Apparently he has learned nothing from Karma.
dcmeyer:
Open spiel was almost all about VP pick Palin's so-called "inexperience"; lame Michael Palin Monty Python joke....
#5 olby doing his best to diminish Sarah Palin and tamp down the excitment of McCain's VP pick. Not-so-Fineman and Maddow cluck in agreement of their dark master.
#4 Trying to make Obama relevant, the mouth breather, Robinson prattled on about the best speach in the history of the world.
#3 Fat ass meets really fat ass in some anti-American hatred.
J$:
Michael Moore set the tone of his segment by thanking God for the approach of Hurricane Gustav. No I am not making this up. And as he did so, Oralmann sat there grinning ear to ear! Nothing funnier than devastation, eh Fat Ass? We'll have a special video clip up within minutes that will put this Great Moment of Journalism into OlbyPlanet perspective.
dcmeyer:
#1 A look back at the dem convention sans any mention of all the problems of MSNBC all week. [Talk about burying the lede! --J$]
MikeC:
It's baaack! Take cover. The Media Matters Minute! No O'Reilly attacks tonight, but there were News Corp attacks and a McCain attack.
Worst was Richard Johnson of the New York Post's Page Six. Yes, Olby took their accurate reportage personally. Johnson works for "Rupert Murdoch's bribe-friendly New York Post." Quote. [ding!] "Let me explain this. I am damaging Rupert Murdoch's television network and his politicians." That's right, Fat Ass. The anchors, reporters, and commentators are "politicians." "Thus, Rupert Murdoch is trying to damage *me*. They make...this...stuff...up! Besides which, the only time I *really* needed more security was the day the New York Post itself sent one of its reporters to *stalk* [ding!] me at my hhhhome!"
Worser was "the endlessly entertaining Steve Doocy of Fixed News [ding!]..." Boy, did I not miss that this week. "...who didn't read the McCain Talking Points [ding!] on Sarah Palin carefully enough." KeithO the Klown went on to use the Obama Talking Points: Palin is a lowly mayor, like Cicely, Alaska ("Northern Exposure" reference). Then came the Doocy dumb guy voice as Olbermoronn read a transcript of Steve's JOKE on this morning's "Fox and Friends" about Alaska being only 30 miles from Russia. More well-researched reporting from Keith "Rip 'n Read" Olbermann. With a sneering grin, Keithy snarked back: "Right. This is like Steve Doocy saying he's a journalist and not a *clown* because his Fox Noise [ding!] office is down the street from NBC News." Well, he isn't a journalist, nor does he claim to be one. He is a host--in fact, a co-host--of a cable news morning show.
Worst was the zillionth McCain attack. Merkle pointed to isolated Iraq violence to discredit the notion that the country is now, for the most part, peaceful and stable. Keith gave his typical Academy Award-nomiated acting job as a response. "So, an average of four people a day dead in suicide bombings means a country is peaceful and sssstable?! But a peaceful and stable country does *not* mean...victory has achieved and we can get our men and women out of there! One way or the other, you are witnessing a man suffering from at least one actual *deluuuuusion*...to say nothing of an utter disrespect for the *meaning*...of the loss of life. It is not funny. It is shameful." And without bombast, he dramatically and mournfully entoned, "John McCain, today's Worst Person in the World."
dcmeyer:
Quiet Anbar ready for handover, Move expected to free up Marines for Afghanistan
By ROBERT BURNS Associated Press
Conditions in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, where a brutal insurgency once ruled, have improved so dramatically that the United States is handing over responsibility for security in the Sunni stronghold to Iraq within days. Troops freed up in Iraq could shift to Afghanistan.
Katy Turic: John McCain and his master stroke
Make the Democrats look like a joke
Put moonbats to shame
Beat them at their own game
Barack/Biden just went up in smoke
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 845th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Olbermann, Kos Script in Hand, Blasts AP Writer for Being Critical of Obama Speech!
We thought that those MSNBC honchos said Olbermann played it straight down the middle when hosting these political events? Tell that to Charles Babington, an AP writer who dared to express mild criticism of some aspects of Obama's Thursday night speech. He got scorched by the impartial Edward R Olbermann and told to find a new line of work!
Olby's outburst was so extraordinary that even the Keith-friendly Editor & Publisher couldn't ignore it, calling it "an unusually heated attack on a veteran political reporter by a cable news host".
What E&P failed to note is that Keith Oralmann surfs websites like the Daily Kos while on the air. He was doing so tonight, and even posting comments, presumably during a commercial break. So there can be little doubt that when the Great Kos himself slammed Mr Babington's article, Bathtub Boy would be ready and willing to take the Kos talking points and spew them on Peacock air. Which he did just minutes after Markos published the attack.
Anchor Wars Erupt at MSNBC: Olbermann Is the Instigator
John Gibson analyzed the latest skirmishes in the MSNBC anchor wars, including Morning Joe mocking Keith Oralmann's over-the-top baseball analogies over Hillary Clinton's speech, and Keith's blog launching a petition drive to get Joe fired. We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
UPDATE: Howard Wolfson says he'll work to defeat a Chris Matthews Senate run. Audio here!
UPDATE UPDATE: Mike Murphy on A-Mess-NBC: "I mean come on, this is, you guys are so in the tank we ought to be filming this on a submarine." Uh-oh. That led to--yes, Yes!--another Klassic Keith open-mic moment:
Wolfson to Olbermann: I'm Not Going to Be Lectured by You!
Keith Olbermann, who thinks Fox News is worse than the KKK, and worse than Hitler, donned his Edward R Murrow hat last night to call Democrat Howard Wolfson a "Toyko Rose" for appearing on Fox. (Apparently Olbermann, who lectures against Nazi analogies, is just fine with analogies to the Axis allies.)
Fox News issued a colorful response, and today Howard struck back. We have the video for your viewing pleasure:
Olbermann Begins Campaign to Fire Scarborough! Update: Kos Doing Keith's Dirty Work!
Last night's "get a shovel" crack, sneered by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann into an open mic, just exposed to the world what is going on behind the scenes. Edward R Olbermann already has several scalps on his belt: Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams lead the list. Now he's ready to remake MSNBC mornings into the OlbyPlanet model of ideological purity by taking aim at Joe Scarborough.
Was it just by accident that OlberToady David "Slippery" Shuster just happened to pick a fight with Joe the very next morning? On Scarborough's own show, no less! As our favorite MSNBC ex-insider explains, this is the modus operandi of Keith Oralmann. And we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
UPDATE: And so it begins. Olbermann's blog has launched a petition to fire Joe Scarborough. Keith's Kos kolleagues are hard at work trying to figure out how they can implement King Oralmann's plan to rid MSNBC's airwaves of impure political thoughts:
Do a little investigative work on Joe's background to see what drives the man. There's probably a few skeletons hidden there.
Who killed Joe Scarborough's secretary in Joe's office might be a start.
It's very possible that Scarborough is a heavy drinker, uses drugs, and has extramarital affairs (unless he's impotent). He might cheat on his taxes and hire illegal aliens to do his yardwork and watch his kids. I have no evidence at all of any of that but I've seen the pattern in that type.
Olby must want Joe gone real bad for him to permit his own blog to publicly do his dirty work.
UPDATE: Olbermann makes fun of Chris's long-winded ways, and Matthews snaps back at him. Ah, the beauty of it all:
If it's Tuesday, it must be day two of the four-day Olbergasm. So get your shovels and prepare for another night of convention fun and games.
In addition to slapping down Joe Scarborough last night (will he be allowed to speak in King Olbermann's presence any more?), it appears the Kossacks are chattering about Bathtub Boy walking off the set when Pat Buchanan was speaking. Of course, Oralmann insists it was all planned that way, but we know better, don't we? Mr "I know how to keep my opinions separate" did a great job doing that last night, as he all but declaed the election over on the first night of the convention!
Whether you watch the Fox team, the Wolf team, or suffer through Fat Ass and The Drooler (we wouldn't blame you if you couldn't bear it), here's your thread to express your comments on the developments and the coverage.
It's Monday night of the four-night Olbergasm on BONBC. Here's an open thread to discuss the coverage, the convention, and however many gaffes are made by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann.
You can watch the gang at Fox (Mr Bill O'Reilly, Ham & Cheese, the Hon Brit Hume, etc). Or perhaps you favor the other Wolf Man, the one at CNN. Or you might just be a glutton for punishment and are willing to sit through hours of spittle from Fat Ass and The Drooler, so that you can help document their smears and lies for future generations to ponder.
In any case, the comments are open and we invite you to use our valuable bandwidth to post your convention-night commentary.
Fox & Friends has fun with Ed Rendell's comments about MSNBC and the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. Of course we have the video for your viewing pleasure:
If there were any doubt that the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann is nothing but a slovenly political hack, that doubt was removed tonight.
Remember the ad about Obama's wife, the ad that wasn't even run by the McCain campaign? Recall Merkle's righteous outrage about it, as he bellowed night after night after night about how evil it is to attack the wife of a candidate? Remember how he demanded McCain speak out against it, and demanded he pull it down--even though he had no power or authority to do so? Think back to how Olbermoronn then demanded that McCain threaten the Tennessee Republicans with everything short of waterboarding in order to make them take it down?
Today, the Democrats in Florida put out an ad about Cindy McCain. Did Oralmann scorch Obama? Did he demand that it be taken down? Did he express outrage that the wife of a candidate was being targeted?
Silly rabbit. Of course not. Edward R Olbermann is a slovenly political hack.
And a hypocritical one as well. Talking to the phony soldier-spokesman about how horrible it is that McCain cites his service in the military (you know, like Olby condemned John "Reporting for Duty" Kerry...oh, you don't remember Olby condemning that?), Fat Ass complained that it's gotten so bad that McCain is actually citing his POW status and even worse, he "used it to validate his policy decisions". Horrors!
How about when Olbermoronn was making one of his 500+ attacks on Bill O'Reilly, in this case for the crime of disagreeing with John McCain (this was before McCain was the nominee so Bathtub Boy wasn't obligated to attack him nightly). Do you know what the trump card that Keithy pulled out to prove how wrong O'Reilly was? You guessed it: Olby used McCain's POW history to validate his policy decision! Said KO, O'Reilly was "worst person in the world" for disagreeing with someone "who spent five years as a POW in North Vietnam".
Keith Olbermann: slovenly political hack, and The Biggest Hypocrite in the Wooorrrrld!
Philly:
Ding! Commence Olbergasm! According to MSDLC, Kaine and Bayh are not the veep picks. Craig Crawford makes an appearance. I wonder what he had to do to get back in Herr Olbytard's good graces. Never mind: I don't want to know.
About the McCain "houses" (that belong to his wife) flap, did the Dems forget how wealthy John Kerry, John Edwards (har!), Ted Kennedy and other Dems are? Does John Kerry know how all of Teresa's dough is invested. I doubt it.
chuckerchucker:
"Comedian" Keith Olbermann comes up with a new McName, this time McNopoly in regards to the several houses that McCain owns. Yah, McCain was way out of line suggesting A Mess NBC was being unfair to him. He should grow up, I mean Keith has done several parodies of Obama's name right? Oh wait, you're a facist if you make fun of Obama's name.
dcmeyer:
I wonder what the count was on the "McCain homes" tonight? It seems like olby was trying every segment to work that hackneyed phrase in. I got a chuckle of olby whining about the use of unnamed sources in the Chicago Trib, seeing as olby dedicated a whole hour of "breaking news" to a NYT report of McCain and a lobbyist that used unnamed sources.
CountDung:
We should ask the Obama campaign how many times they insist Olbermann use it.
dcmeyer:
That would make sense, CountDung, since olby is the only one flogging the story.
J$:
Speaking of the Obama campaign, as Bathtub Boy was spouting off statistics about the cost of the McCains' domestic help on The Hour of Spin, just down the dial an Obama spokesman was attacking McCain by bringing up...the cost of his domestic help! The exact same talking points, only on The Factor we got them straight from the Obama campaign, without having them go through the repellent middleman on The Hour of Spin.
MikeC: In the Media Matters Minute, Worse was two Chicago Tribune writers. Skip. Worser was two "Grammar Vigilantes." Next.
Worst was Sean Hannity. According to Keith Oralmann, Sean "jumped the professional shark, both in terms of journalism and Americanism" when talking about Obama's controversial Born Alive abortion bill vote...which turned into a defense of Jerome Corsi. Edward R. Olbermann dusted off his squawky hem-and-haw Hannity impression while reading a blue blog quote from "his radio comedy show." The full-blooded, fire-breathing, get-Lord-Obama-elected-at-all-costs Rev. Olbermoronn played the race card. "Now that you have crossed the line into full-blooded, fire-breathing...*stop-the-Black-guy-at-all-costs* racism, go the whole distance! Get a hood! And wear it on your show!"
Katy Turic: Olby's "source" is the Huffington Post
Know as "research" by McKountdown's host
Blue blog rip-n-read
Arianna's his lead
(She's also disliked coast-to-coast)
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 23 times. Olby's source (Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC five times, but again, Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -56 [mama's boy limp].
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 838th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Howard Fineman, pundit with shoe polish in his hair
E.J. Dionne, reliably leftist scrivener
Vote Vets Obama tank-dweller
Jonathan Alter, affectionately known to his friends as "Lefty"
Shock! No Wolffe Man? Was Chris Kofinis out of town tonight? Another Shock: Olbermann's stunning treatment of the threatening letters and pseudo-anthrax sent to two different McCain HQs today.
Remember the outrage when Edward R Olbermann got his letter with fake anthrax in it? Remember how he rushed to blame people like Michelle Malkin, blaming their words for demonizing him? Merkle tonight did not blame anyone for demonizing McCain (whom Olby has called everything from a disgrace to a delusional crackpot). He oddly made no such reference. In fact he was strangely silent about this news. Here we have terrorist attacks (Oralmann's own description) directed against a Presidential candidate, but Fat Ass doesn't get riled up about it, doesn't even bother with the story. Why would this be?
dcmeyer:
I couldn't get past Olby's carnival barking opening spiel tonight, "McCain meltdown." I guess getting spanked by The Ingraham Factor last night really gave KO the vapors.
Great Thanks:
John McCain is out of touch with Americans because he's made wise choices with his money.
EddieB:
I tune in to see just what "olbydouche" might be discussing on a particular night. Tonight, it seemed to me, his WHOLE show was going to be ridiculing McCain for his "HOW MANY HOUSES DO I OWN?" "controversy". I feel utterly stupid even saying this, but how much play would this get if were Obama?? The answer is obvious. How this lunatic still gets 50 or 100,000 people to watch on a given night is a scary thought. What a tool.
ramjet:
The Flaming One Legged Flamingo, previously known as Whatzizname, unbelievably ridiculed the McCain campaign spokesman for using the term " 5 1/2 years in prison" instead of "POW camp," like that's an attempt to try and make the experience seem worse than it actually was--showing precisely how ignorant, insensitive, cruel, and torturous this sad excuse of a pink wading bird really is.
Memo to FOLF:
1. POW = PRISONER of War
2. The Hanoi Hilton = Hoa Lo PRISON
3. Built in 1901 by the French who renamed the street it was on rue de la PRISON," or in Vietnamese, "Pho Nha Tu" which translates to PRISON Street.
4. When the French left in 1954, Vietnamese officials changed the name of the street and PRISON back to Hoa Lo.
All things considered, I'm certain Sen. McCain would have preferred to spend 5 1/2 years in whatever the FOLF's conception is of a prison rather than the "camp" he 'attended.'
Quads: Howard Fineman wishes he can be "cool and accepted" on Countdown with the olbyloons. The black hair dye just is not cutting it, but he tries oh so hard to hit Olby's wheelhouse demographic of 18-24 year old young boys.
Citizen Keith continued to advance the notion that by McCain commenting on the draft, he was essentially announcing his true intentions once he becomes president. It does not matter that the Al Jazeera @ 30 Rock gang (which has become NBC news) reported the story ad nauseam a couple of years back, accusing Bush of wanting to reinstitute the draft --which never happened.
Fat Ass is clearly under the misguided assumption that he can pick an issue and actually make it a campaign issue. Keith is clearly as narcissistic as "legs wide open" John Edwards. But what do you expect from the gang of MSLSD. The acid has clearly gone to there head as they fly the American Flag upside down.
10th Cavalry:
Honestly, I suspect McCain probably doesn't know. The boss has the cash in the family and she is likely to be the owner. At least McCain pays his property taxes. How much property does Fatass own? Hizzoner appears to be a real estate mogul himself but like the slum landlords, tends to forget those tidy little things like property taxes.
Klein should take some hair off the backside and put it on top. Perhaps he can consult with Biden on how to do that.
Observer Dan:
KEITHS MOST PRICELESS BACKFIRE MOMENT: You could almost hear Homer Simpson coughing " DUH!" E. J. Dionne Jr. insisted on squeaking in one last comment, thankfully. It took all the air out of Olby's segment ridiculing John McCain for being a wealthy out-of-touch elitist:
Olbermann: " ..and thank you, uh, go ahead..."
E.J. Dionne Jr.: "uh, ok, and I was going to say we can bring in John Edwards Barber and do some $400 haircuts!
Olbermann: " ..........alright".
Billy Hill:
E.J. Dionne has never looked more like a frog than he did tonite. When his picture flashed up he looked like he was ready to leap, arms spread apart, hunkered over posed in the fly catching mode. What a bunch of weirdos.
Philly:
Lefty Alter prognosticates that Barry Soetoro's veep pick is Joe Biden. The deluded Alter somehow thinks Biden's big obnoxious yap is a plus, not a minus. Gaffetastic! Biden will blow another hole in Barry's sinking ship in no time flat. Olby thinks it's Hillary. Never say never, says Lefty. Hillary's "cathartic process" during Tuesday's floor vote will help unify the party, Alter says. There's no incentive for her to sabotage Obama. How silly. The Clinton's would get someone else to do their dirtywork. What is Alter thinking?
MikeC:
And now, the most dreaded two minutes in television, the latest from the Media Matters grapevine. By that, I mean, it's time for the Media Matters Minute. The good news is there was no O'Reilly attack. The bad news is the following people *were* attacked:
Worse was John Gard, a Republican running for Congress in Wisconsin's 8th District. T. Boone Olbermann says the notion that Cuba is drilling off the Florida coast is "flat-out horse hockey." "Cuba granted *leases* to foreign countries to explore for oil on Cuban *land*. Mr. Gard does make sense at one point in the ad when he concludes, (mimicky voice): 'Makes no sense to me.'" This is the same clueless conservatives card he played with Rudy Giuliani a few weeks ago.
Worser was Gen. David Petraeus! Yes, Jane Fonda Olbermann once again goes after the military...not to mention organized religion. Gen. Petraeus endorse a book by an evangelical Lutheran Chaplain. Horrors! He must be taken down! "Never mind the impact on those soldiers who are not of [the Chaplain's] faith. How about Army regulations against...promoting religion against *proselytizing*?! General Petraeus, who never has never been troubled by Army regulations, nor *Constitutional* ones, claims that when [the Chaplain] asked him for a recommendation, he didn't give him permission to *publish* it, that it was only intended for [the Chaplain] personally." An evil grin sets in. "Yes, you're right," Rev. Olbermoronn tells his credulous lemmings, "that *doesn't* make any sense. Guy asks ya for a book blurb and you don't expect him to print it. But it gets worse." I'll bet it does. "Petraeus' endorsement has been on that book jacket...since the book was published *last year*." [But he only made 'worst person' tonight, because the blue blog source, HuffPo, only recently covered this. And it ain't news on OlbyPlanet unless it comes from a Blue Blog.--J$]
Worst was "comedian [ding!] Rush Limmmbaaaugh, defending John McCain... What else? That's what it says on the Talking Points Rush gets. ...by attacking Obama's response to McCain's attack ad." There goes the Talking Points meme again. Talking Points this, Talking Points that. Oralmann does a Limbaugh impression while reading a parsed blue blog quote. He then chimes back with: "There's...4,000 jokes in there, like, uh, 'bout the last time comedian [ding!] was called either little...or a *man*. But hidden in that statement...Rush? You're suggesting that you should be able to hit the girl?" Okay, I don't know if that's a pleasuring reference or a violence against women reference. "Comedian [ding!] Rush Limmmmmbaaaaaugh!" And you know what the last line was.
Katy Turic: McOlbermahn thinks he's McCute
McJournalist in a McSuit
McHack, McInsane
McObama's campaign
McOlbermahn will McPollute
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 837th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Heads Roll at MSNBC as Olbermann Assumes Greater Control
John Gibson points out how A-Mess-NBC continues its march toward total ideological conformity with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. And we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
Wow, Todd and The Wolffe Man. We haven't seen them for--what?--hours! Yes, both were just on The Hour of Spin 24 hours ago. Looks like the parrot pool isn't very deep, now that Dana Milbank has been banished for activities counter to the State.
Observer Dan:
KEITHS EDWARD R. MURROW MOMENT:
Keith at least 7 times making the lofty assertion that Joe Biden announced he had just had a successful bowel movement.
10th Cavalry:
Oralmann is the consumate asshole. Obama maybe misleading his party about Biden as the choice and McCain about Liebermann. That is viewed as Obama doing a head fake and McCain lying. Oh well guys like him crash and burn. For awhile they think they have a rocket ship up their A_ _, but eventually the fuel runs out. Then it is crash and burn.
Quads:
Keith at the bidding of MSNBC News executives (oops that is Keith actually) are now playing the "draft card" in response to a question posed to John McCain on the campaign trail. How many times has the Al Jazeera @ 30 Rock gang that could not report straight tell us that Bush was going to institute a draft when the war was going bad?
Now Goebbels Wing Man is accusing McCain of lying to us about the speculation of the Lieberman VP candidacy. Amazing how on Olby planet, McCain can be accused of lying to all of us based on the MSLSD gang's ignorant speculation based on the mis-direction bait about Lieberman being VP timber.
"How many more wars does John McCain want to fight?" said the discredited communications director of John Edwards. The fact that this man is even still getting a slot on Olby planet is in itself mindboggling.
ramjet:
The flaming one-legged flamingo, formerly referred to as Whatizname, does the dealing from the bottom of the deck two-step by claiming Opama Opponent is either crazy or dangerous (do I here 'both') for allegedly changing his position opposing the reinstatement of the draft because he'll need all those extra troops for all the sabre rattling and bomb, bomb, bombing of Iran that would be the souless heart and heartless soul of the foreign AND domestic policies of his (God help us, everyone) presidency.
But seeing now that he has not walked back from that election dooming gaffe, guranteeing a street level gathering of outraged draftees and their sobbing mommies and daddies that will put the doddering candidate's doddering campaign out of its misery, once and for all, how can this possibly be turned around? Will the campaign shrug it off as just another verbal typo? Or will they trudge forward down the road of kamikaze kalamity.
Only problem is it's a conclusion that follows a premise that is founded upon a dilemma that was created by a decision that was caused by a bout of insanity or a strain of incompetence (or, do I hear both?) which can be the only explanation that explains how this happened, even though it didn't.
J$:
Notice how when the discussion is about the Democratic race, Oralmann interviews a Democrat. And to be fair and balanced, when it's about the Republican race, Olby interviews...a Democrat! Really, Chris Kofinis, Edwards hack, is on this show so much that they might have to start listing him in the credits. This of course mandated an updating of The List--here's just the past few months. See how many times CK has sat in the Seat of Honor on OlbyPlanet:
June 6: Chris Kofinis (D)
June 9: Scott McClellan (R) [speaking against Bush policies]
June 11: John Kerry (D)
June 20: Chris Kofinis (D)
June 23: Markos Moulitsas (D)
June 25: Robert Wexler (D)
June 30: Jim Webb (D)
July 1: Chris Kofinis (D)
July 17: Chris Kofinis (D)
July 21: Chris Kofinis (D)
July 22: Chris Kofinis (D)
July 25: Bob Barr (L)
July 31: Chris Kofinis (D)
August 8: Chris Kofinis (D)
August 12: Chris Kofinis (D)
August 20: Chris Kofinis (D)
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, ONBC's (see The Cable Game) Keith Oralmann continued to take advantage of a vacationing Bill O'Reilly--trying to find *anything* related to him, even if indirectly--by doling out O'Reilly Attack #507. Before the attack came these:
Worse was Mitt Romney. "Joining the chorus of those on the right who are just not smart enough to recognize the irony in their own macho comments about Georgia and Russia." Yes, Merkle played the irony card again in order to make a conservative or Republican look stupid. In the spirit of Chet Huntley, Keith did a mock impression of Mitt, complete with moderate tempo and pauses, while reading a quote he got from a blue blog. The quote regarded Sochi, Russia, hosting the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Fat Ass snarked back: "Uh, Governor, I-I know we didn't like them and we decided their government was legit-illegitimate, but *Iraq* was still a sovereign nation and...we acted militarily against *it*. (flashing a thumbs up): Nice work, Bub. You may have just blown Chicago's chances for the 2016 [Summer] Olympics." No, he may not have.
Worser was "comedian [ding!] *Rush Limbaugh*." His crime? He disparaged St. Rachel of Madcow. Bathtub Boy wasn't going to take this sitting down...or in the bathtub. He came back with: "Homophobia and the latent homosexual tendencies contained in that answer notwithstanding, that's a lotta trash talk comin' from a guy with Viagra and an I.V. of it, no hair...and no TV show!"
Worst was another 1,000-mile stretch for an O'Reilly Attack, in this case, #507. Billo! [ding!] The Olbsessed one is mad that Mr. Bill hasn't attacked him personally, going after the big boys at NBC and GE instead. Keith took advantage of News Corp's price going down, trumpeting the news with evil glee, but not before going back to January to read a quote in the Ted Baxter voice. Maybe 1,000 miles was too short a number to describe the stretch. How about 2 light years, trillions of miles! And folks, when I said evil glee, I meant *evil glee*. Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann lurched backward in his chair as he let out an ultra-sinister chuckle, with the high school senior staff (I've dropped them a grade from my previous recap). Then, "I'll just read this verbatim from the Los Angeles Times." He whipped out a paper...again! What exactly is reading something from a paper, sometimes holding it, supposed be an homage to? I have no idea. Is it an old-timey "this just in to the news desk" sort of thing? Olbermoronn continued with the evil glee (including an "Arr!" for Rupert Murdoch") while reading the LA Times blurb. Yeah, I trust the LA Times. Not! When he was finished, "Now, you might expect me to take this opportunity to claim that I, somehow, influenced News Corp's stock price hemorrage. Nonsense. I will agree with Bill tonight." If you agree, then why are you attacking him? "Stock prices are *his* sphere of influence. Fox is down a third? (leaning right and looking back): Ask the clown! Bill Orally [ding!], today's...Worst...and now discounted by 34%...Person...in the Worrrrrrlduh!"
The Factor:
Hey Keith, what's better? To have a cable show that no one watches while making 4 million dollars or to have a Radio show that 18 million people listen to on 300 hundred stations making over $100 million? Oh and from what KarmaBites tells us, your Viagra joke came up a TINY TEENY LITTLE bit short.
The Factor:
Dogs That Will Never Bark: Rachel Madcow was shopping tapes at the EVIL Fox News.
demeyerr:
Pooches that didn't peep: McCain takes lead over Obama: Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Katy Turic: NBC's on Obama's campaign
For two hours they'll bash John McCain
Meltdown to Mister
Maddow Keith's sister?
"News show of record" for the insane
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 836th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, August 20 2008.
Welcome to You Write the Recap 2.0. This is a special thread for you to post your comments on the night's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, non-barking dogs...the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website.
We'll go through the comments, organize them, and the best will constitute our official OlbyWatch Recap. That will be posted separately, later tonight, for maximum visibility and impact. We'll credit all the commenters for their contributions. We need your help to document the shameless "journalism" of Krazy Legs Olbermann. You know, the guy who runs MSNBC.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open: post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and watch for your insights later tonight in the official OlbyWatch Recap.
March to Olbermann's Drum or MSNBC Will Fire Your Ass!
Abrams: out! Maddow: in! John Gibson worked at A-Mess-NBC for years. He knows how management thinks, and he knows the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. So his take on the recent hiring of Err America's Rachel Maddow (along with the firing of Dan Abrams from his 9:00 pm slot) is particularly trenchant. Gibby demonstrates what the once-proud NBC News brand has become, pointing the finger of blame directly at Bathtub Boy. And we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
This insightful analysis from Inside Cable News explains what MSNBC has become as a result of this move. Also don't miss the snark from Chickaboomer.
A typical Hour of Spin, this one had the requisite series of McCain attacks, plus a repellent orgy of self-promotion and mutual onanism between Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann and comedian Rachel Madcow.
dcmeyer:
Olby finally reports a poll negative to Obama with a caveat, it's because of McCain negative attacks. No, it's because Americans are waking up to who Obama really is. I also got a chuckle out of, "questioning Obama's patriotism." How many times will the left roll out this chestnut? Telling the truth about your political opponent equals calling someone unpatriotic.
Philly:
Barry's campaign is floating the VP rumors to divert attention from his disastrous Saddleback performance. Howie Fineman plays You Bet Your Life with the veepstakes; he claims Biden is Number Two. Gaffetastic Biden would be a great choice, I think.
The Factor:
Dan Abrams was no better than comedian Madcow and I am glad he no longer has a program but I hope he stabs Olbermann in the back. Dan Abrams, you have been purged. Get your shovel and report to the nearest box car. Oh and bring a warm coat.
Philly:
Another one thrown under the MSDNC bus. THUD! When will Scarborough's time come? I am surprised they have not yanked him off the air. Of course Olby has to plug Football Night in America. What an egomaniac.
True Conservative:
What is left of NBC's "reputation" after KO and MADCOW? Conservatives and Republicans better wake up and start supporting the news organizations which are fair to them. The Soros supported Media Matters is still crowing about how Chris Wallace (FNC) was shut out of the upcoming Presidential debates.
Can you imagine how much worse MSDNC is going to get? KO at least TRIED to pretend he was hosting a "news" program. MADCOW will not even bother with the pretense.
J$: My guess is that Maddow will actually be marginally better than Oralmann. I don't think she's so afraid of people with dissenting views that she gets "nauseous" at the thought of talking to them. Meanwhile, Merkle decided to blame Bush for forcing those ignorant Poles into taking a missile defense that doesn't work, thereby angering Russia and triggering a new cold war. Bathtub Boy did not explain why the Russians would be angry over the installation of something that didn't work.
Rick:
What could possibly have possessed the MSNBC big wigs to hire Mr. Maddow as a full-timer? He's an Olbermann clone. Literally. I wonder why they don't try to lure in one of the hot FNC babes, instead of settling for boring androgynous Maddow. But hey, if it means KO is going to do one of those steroid-pumped rants that make his jowls shake and his veins pop out on command, well, I'm all for it. There's so little comedy on tonight. Comment forth, KO. I'll get my popcorn.
MLong: Lets see Olbermann at 8..Maddow at 9 and a Olbermann repeat at 10..ewwww!!!....I just had a disturbing image of a Olbermann/Maddow/Olbermann sandwich...Oh god!!!! please get that picture out of my mind!!!.... LOL!!! New Murrow indeed.
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, KeithO the Klown tried to defend Bill O'Reilly, but only ended up dishing out O'Reilly Attack #506. First, let's get the non-O'Reilly stuff out of the way.
Worse was Newt Gingrich. "How *have* the mighty fallen." "Animated prop on Sean Hannity's show." Alan Colmes is the invisible man on OlbyPlanet. (I searched through the two FOXNews.com videos of Newt's two segments last night and couldn't find the part that was parsed by Merkle.) Sheep viewers! Big oil! [ding!] Criticism of Obama's "inflate your tires" plan is uncalled for. Rev. Olbermoronn wouldn't let that stand via snarky comeback. "Nice try, Sparky." We're stealing Craig Kilborn's lines now?"ExxonMobil did not make $11 billion in the second quarter selling freaking air...Nooooooot!" Now holding up papers, Oralmann giggles and howls, "This guy was the Speaker of the Hoooouse!"
Worst was Harvey Kushner "of the woeful HumanEvents.com." Keith let out two frantic shudders at Kushner's image, and another when uttering his name a second time. How dare he "smear my old colleague, Mr. [Jack] [Hit-and-Run Driver] Cafferty". Lunatic fringe! [ding!] Worse yet, how dare he compare Cafferty to Joseph Goebbels.Herr Olbermann read Kushner's quote on a paper. Anyone else sick of that bit? Olbermann fought back with evil cheer, increased speech tempo, and hand gestures, all once again out of the Howard Beale playbook, which you can buy for $15.99 on Amazon.com. (No, you can't. I'm only kidding.) "John McCain gets 12 seconds or mless (he stumbled on 'less') on the 'Nightly News' and...it's the Nazis! John McCain is shorter? The Nazis did it! John McCain is caught (raising fingers with each word): lying, cheating, admitting his own admission to be President...(with all five fingers): being in the Keating Five?! It's the Nazis obviously! Harvey 'It's raining because of the Nazis' Kushner, today's Worst...Person...in the World." He said that last line without craziness.
Now to what turned into O'Reilly Attack #506. Worser was the East Coast Avengers, a violent rap group that created a six-minute ditty where they admit they want to kill our humble correspondent...and Michelle Malkin. Their Blue Blog Source, of course, Media Matters. Dean Olbermoronn called the group into his office and told them: "Gentlemen...I'm the last person to disagree with you on the chickenhawk, lying coward, sexist, racist, needs a facelift, whore stuff. But you really need to re-cut this track. Nobody's life should be threatened, not even in the hyperbole of the moment. Besides...you are rappers. You have better ethics than Bill O'Reilly does. Live up to them, don't live down to him. Word to your mother." The freshman staff lightly chuckled.
MLong: I wonder if some Country music group did a song about killing KO or Maddow would he push it to his "comical" WPITW segment or would it warrant a "Special Comment"? New Murrow indeed.
Observer Dan:
KEITHS MOST GROTESQELY SHAMELESS MOMENT: Damning Bill O'Reilly under the guise of "defending" him. Keith, appallingly, yet not surprisingly, delivered the despicable lyric on a platter to the previously uninformed. He did not, however, mention that his own voice can be heard in the rap track! Did Olby sign a release for the use of his voice? [You won't get an answer from Olbermoronn to that question; he's in a cone of silence. --J$]
Katy Turic: Mister Maddow gets a new show?
Danny Abrams will have to go
(MS)NBC erred
Air Maddow fared
Poorly and her ratings are low
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 835th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Chris Cilizza, Washington Post scribe desperate for air time
Keith Oralmann sings a chorus of "Your Cheatin' Heart" as he delivers breathless scoops of things that were known long ago. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's The Hour of Spin!
Don't miss our OlbyWatch Special Education Komment Exclusives: dramatic reading by the OlbyRobot, and fully-annotated transcript!
ktt:
Olby and Madddow are making me dizzy by talking in circles. I need to take some dramamine. Fineman just said the media is being too nice to McCain. Is he truly kidding me? Maybe he's dizzy from hearing too much Olbermann.
Philly:
Olby is not one who should talk about "failing upward". He is the poster child for that. How this mental case of a baseball card freak got on national television with a nightly hour of spin, I will never know. I think Satan played a part in that transaction.
Howie Fineman owes me a keyboard: He claimed that Loon Andrea Mitchell is "the paragon of objective reporting." HAR! That was a knee-slapper. The air is getting thinner on Olby planet.
J$: All this slobbering over Andrea Mitchell and this great "scoop" about McCain being in a motorcade. That was known Saturday morning. It was reported Saturday afternoon, hours before the forum began! Did Olbermann need a diversion from how the candidates performed? Is that why he's pretending that McCain's Saturday schedule was a mysterious secret until the National Barack Channel talked about it on Sunday?
ktt:
Let me get this right. Olby's fake outrage is over his belief that McCain CHEATED at a FAITH forum? Like no one could predict what those questions would be? Like no one watched the democratic forum on religion earlier in the primaries, and gosh I bet some of those questions would be identical. Like no one hypothesized those questions in the multitudes of articles that preceded the forum? Has eveyone lost their freakin mind?
But hey, if it means KO is going to do one of those steroid-pumped rants that make his jowls shake and his veins pop out on command, well, I'm all for it. There's so little comedy on tonight. Comment forth, KO. I'll get my popcorn.
Philly: Rick Warren gave both candidates a few questions in advance. And Rick Warren absolutely did use the term "cone of silence", which I construed as a joke anyway.
Given the timing, McCain wouldn't have had much time to get advance questions and then have time to rehearse spot-on responses from the hotel to the green room. And he already knew some of the questions because Warren divulged them to both camps. And I won't go into the ummmm, errrrrs and uhhhhhs uttered by Barry, which took up at least 10 minutes of the first 30.
The Factor:
John McCain won at Saddleback??? HE MUST HAVE CHEATED!!!! An EVIL RELIGOUS NEOCON ZELOT THOUGHT CRIMINAL gave McSHAME the answers. Karl Rove was with McCain in "cone of silence". Remember if republicans win, it is because they cheated on Olby planet. Diebold invented a special hearing devise for McCain. It was given to him by Karl Rove.
Mike C: WPitW: Kristol was named because the NY Times corrected his column. Then, he was basically called a lousy writer. Corsi was named because, in a March column, he suggested that al-Qaeda was endorsing McCain (or something, I forgot already). This was followed by another conservatives-are-dumb jab.
Billo the Clown! [ding!] "He has cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" Stalker producers! [ding!] Church shooter hated liberals! Sainted "Newsday" columnist mentioned our humble correspondent in an article about said shooter. The producer "waited in her driveway and then abused her." Any of you OlbyWatch readers buying that? Fat Ass replied: "Seriously, Bill, for that?! Are you 100% paranoid now?! The next time you send one of these guys out, will it be to harass some guy that cut you off on the Pulaski Skyway?!" If a "Factor" producer did indeed ambush that Newsday columnist, it'll probably be a while before the video is shown, what with back-to-back conventions and all. [So it will be a while before we actually see how phony Oralmann's claim that the woman was "abused" really is. Nice timing, Fat Ass. --J$]
The Special Education Komment [see appendix for the complete annotated text as well as the dramatic reading by the OlbyRobot]
Great Thanks:
Wow, Olby still claiming the Surge didn't work....
ktt:
Special comment? A given. Those ratings were dropping. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and if it means spitfest and whiplash flipping from camera two to camera three then so be it. Grab the rain poncho for the laughing stagehand before he thinks tropical storm Fay has hit him.
Great Thanks: This is easily his weakest and non-point-having SEK ever. Obviously thrown together at the last minute. And I guess "grow up" is more grown up that bellowing "Shut the hell up" into the camera, Jimmy Legs.
Philly: This stuff sends Olby's roids in an uproar. A Meltdown Tizzy.
SoCal Rightist:
WOW, I mean WOW? I just got done watching Slobbermann EXPLODE. His Special Comment tonight was over the top for him. I almost fell out of my recliner when he said that McCain needed an ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT. Then he has the nuts to tell McCain to GROW UP. This wack job has finally lost it. It's like the joke that's going around that OsamaObama and McCain are ice fishing and whoever catches the most fish in 3 days wins the Presidency. To make a long story short, Obama claims McCain is cheating by cutting holes in the ice.
MLong:
he said that McCain needed an ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT"? I guess KO means like the one the North Vietnamese gave him? New Murrow indeed.
Observer Dan:
ANOTHER REASON WHY KEITH WOULD CATCH A BEAT DOWN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD I COME FROM: He used the words " calumny, persiflage, and dyspeptic" all in the same sentence. And had a whiney, pinched look on his face,too !
J$: And don't forget McCain telling kids to "get out of my yard". I mean, that's another great original thought of Herr Olbermahn's. So original that the blue bloggers sell it on t-shirts! Well, now we know where Edward R Olbermann lifted that part of his Special Education Komment from, don't we?
JohnO: "What Davis is really saying here, of course, is that he wants no level of objectivity, that the only campaign he wants questioned is Obama,..."
Thanks for your interpretation Keith, but his actual words did not say that at all. If that were the case, wouldn't it make sense for Rick Davis to send that letter to all major news organizations requesting more objective coverage? After all, NBC and MSNBC's viewership makes up only a portion of the voting public. No, the reason MSNBC was singled out as a "concern" is because of the shameless pro-Obama hackery performed during the 8pm Hour of Spin. You even come close to admitting this yourself:
"Senator McCain -- did you pay any attention to the Democratic primaries? Did you notice the hair-pulling frenzy of some of Senator Clinton's supporters who could not face the possibility that her loss might have been her fault -- or theirs -- and thus it must be ours?"
Yes, remind us again Keith of how you threw Sen. Clinton "under the bus" [ding!]. But that was a nice trick, trotting out another Democrat to create a smokescreen of non-partisanship. You're right, though- the public sees through this nonsense.
CountDung: Now this is funny and and prophetic, Olbermann always starts his 1st comment after his main Kos blog with: "Tip Jar". It's all about himself begging for recognition from the the KOS kids living in Mom's basement. This time asks for tips to buy popcorn. As if his spiel is equivalent to a great football game.
I remember Terrel Owens saying the same thing about playing my NY Giants. How'd that work out? I can see Olby crying just like Owens: "You know this isn't about Barack (sniff, sniff) You guys can talk about the vacation but if you do it isn't really fair (sniff, sniff). We lost as a team man, we lost as a team (arghh, sniff, sniff)
APPENDIX 1: SPECIAL EDUCATION KOMMENT, OlbyRobot dramatic reading:
APPENDIX 2: SPECIAL EDUCATION KOMMENT, annotated transcript:
Four times in just two days, Sen. McCain's campaign managers have, simply, hung him out to dry.
First, trying to scapegoat the media, in the exact way that has spelled doom for other presidential candidates already watching from the sidelines.
Second, doing so with a petulant statement so full of holes that it virtually confirms that which was reported, and which set off this pointless temper tantrum in the first place.
Third, sending the candidate out to speak before the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, even as the millstones of a series of disastrous, anti-veteran votes, still figuratively dangled from around his neck.
And fourth, encouraging Sen. McCain, while there, to address his opponent in the language of unseemly contempt, undignified calumny, and holier-than-thou persiflage unsupported by reality, near-nonsensical bluster that at best makes the speaker look like a dyspeptic grouchy neighbor shouting "Hey you kids, get out of my yard."
[camera pivot, look downward at notes]
"Though victory in Iraq is finally in sight," you told the VFW today, Sen. McCain, "a great deal still depends on the decisions and good judgment of the next president. The hard-won gains of our troops hang in the balance. The lasting advantage of a peaceful and democratic ally in the heart of the Middle East could still be squandered by hasty withdrawal and arbitrary timelines. And this is one of many problems in the shifting positions of my opponent, Sen. Obama."
[look up to camera again]
The shifting positions of Sen. Obama?
Sen. McCain, on the 22nd of May, 2003, you said, of Iraq, on the Senate floor, "We won a massive victory in a few weeks, and we did so with very limited loss of American and allied lives. We were able to end aggression with minimum overall loss of life, and we were even able to greatly reduce the civilian casualties of Afghani and Iraqi citizens."
[ratchet it up]
Senator, you declared victory in Iraq, five years and nearly three months ago.
Today you say, "victory in Iraq is finally in sight?"
The victory you already proclaimed five years ago?
Are we going back in time Sir?
[be careful not to squeak too much on "sir"]
If that had not been enough, in June of 2003, with even Fox News noting "many argue the conflict (in Iraq) isn't over," you answered, "Well, then why was there a banner that said 'Mission Accomplished' on the aircraft carrier? Look, I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict, the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate."
[look up from fake notes]
In 2003, your war was won, because somebody was putting up a banner.
In 2008, your war might finally be won, because you are putting up a campaign based on the mirage that Iraq is winnable.
And yet it is Obama shifting positions on Iraq?
Even if this country were to forget, Senator, the victory lap you and President Bush took five years ago just on their face, your remarks today at the VFW, Senator, are nonsensical.
"Senator Obama commits the greater error of insisting that even in hindsight, he would oppose the surge. Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory."
This construction, Senator, is extremely simple.
If your surge worked, the troops would be home from Iraq. Or most of them, would be. Or all of them who were surged, would be. Or at least we'd have the same number of troops in Iraq now, as we did then. Or maybe one or two guys would be out of harm's way.
[whatever you do, don't stumble on "one or two"...oh well, never mind]
Please, Sen. McCain, stop! This is embarrassing.
[camera pivot here; don't forget your ad-libbed Sigh of Superciliousness]
Whether on his own impetus or an advisor's, the Senator also foolishly invoked his opponent in that speech today.
Previous political careers have foundered on the rocks of the VFW Convention: The Republican majority in Congress and the Senate, the very viability of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, began to unravel at this convention two years ago--that was the venue for the first of Rumsfeld's two references to Bush critics as Nazi Appeasers.
Prudence and judgment, demanded that Sen. McCain tred lightly. Instead he told the convention, "I suppose from my opponent's vantage point, veterans concerns are just one more issue to be spun or worked to advantage."
This would explain why he has also taken liberties with my position on the GI Bill.
"As a political proposition, it would have much easier for me to have just signed on to what I considered flawed legislation. But the people of Arizona, and of all America, expect more from their representatives than that, and instead I sought a better bill. I'm proud to say that the result is a law that better serves our military, better serves military families, and better serves the interests of our country."
Sen. McCain spoke out against that very bill last May on the asinine premise that the warwards to our heroes were so good that it didn't encourage them to stay in the service. Or perhaps force them. More over, Sen. McCain missed 10 of the 14 Senate votes on Iraq up to the middle of last year. This year, he has missed them all including one to honor the sacrifice of the fallen.
He has voted to table or oppose:
$20 million for veteran's health care facilities
$322 million for safety equipment for our troops in Iraq
$430 million for veterans outpatient care
$1 billion in new equipment for the National Guard
And, in separate votes:
[use the agitated side-to-side head shake here, but be careful that Ashleigh's glasses don't fall off]
$1,500,000,000 in additional Veterans' medical care, to be created by closing tax loopholes
$1,800,000,000 in additional Veterans' medical care, to be created by closing tax loopholes
[look alive: another camera pivot!]
And yet, Sir, you have the audacity to stand in front of the very Veterans you repeatedly and consistently sell out, and claim it is your opponent who has put politics first, and country second.
[use your Voice of Ridicule for this]
"Behind all of these claims and positions by Sen. Obama lies the ambition to be president," you said, with a straight face, today. "What's less apparent is the judgment to be commander-in-chief. And in matters of national security, good judgment will be at a premium in the term of the next president as we were all reminded ten days ago by events in the nation of Georgia."
Senator, three points:
Your increasingly extremist and reactionary language towards Sen. Obama really the method by which you want to try to achieve the Presidency or perhaps split the country if you succeed?
[you might want to leave out that bit about extremist language; why make yourself a target?...oh well, never mind]
Criticizing a man for having quote "the ambition to be president?" Seriously? You do realize you are currently running for president, as well, right? That either you also have "ambition to be president" or, what?, somebody's blackmailing you into it?
[louder; use the head-shake as well as the side-to-side sway as you crank it up]
You might want to ask somebody, somebody other than say, your Foreign Policy Advisor, Randy Scheunemann whether or not you are making a jackass out of yourself every time you bring up the conflict between Georgia and Russia.
The Georgians have paid Mr. Scheunemann and his companies 800-thousand dollars over the last several years to lobby for them. It's pretty clear the Georgians have bought Mr. Scheunemann. And, Sen. McCain, it sure as hell looks like the Georgians thought they had bought you.
When you had the tastelessness to paraphrase the rallying cry of 9/11 and say that we are now all Georgians, that nation's President called you out. He said that your words were very nice, but he needed action...
[Laughing Stagehand, watch out for spit here]
not a verbal receipt from a lobbyist and his pet Senator!
[ratchet down, and don't forget: another camera pivot; insert The Pause of Significance]
Going back to the beginning of this sad 48 hours of paranoia from the McCain Campaign.
We have manager Rick Davis's unfortunate letter to NBC News, about Andrea Mitchell's excellent reporting on the possibility that Sen. McCain violated the so-called "Cone of Silence" for the Rick Warren Presidential Forum over the weekend.
[remember not to call it "excellent" reporting, since it was reported before the forum began that McCain would be in a motorcade, and you'll just look like a corporate shill pretending like it was some big scoop...oh well, never mind]
The coverage of this detail, and that forum in general, is, to start with, overwrought. But Mr. Davis has elevated them to the ridiculous.
As Nate Silver at the website 538.com noted, Andrea's reporting, reporting of what the Obama camp claimed, included two essential observations:
"McCain may not have been in the cone of silence" and that he
"May have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama."
Rick Davis writes to NBC: "The fact is that during Senator Obama's segment at Saddleback last night, Senator McCain was in a motorcade to the event and then held in a green room with no broadcast feed."
As Silver astutely notes, for roughly the first half of Obama's participation, his own campaign manager places McCain in a car where he could have been made aware of the questions to Sen. Obama. "In a motor vehicle," Silver writes, "one may use the radio, a cell phone, a Blackberry, Bluetooth Wireless, a Sling box, and perhaps a satellite TV feed. Whether McCain actually used any of those devices, we have no idea. But he absolutely had the ability to use them, which is all that Mitchell had reported. Silver also tripped over Mr. Davis's strange observation that for roughly the second half of Obama's participation, his own campaign places McCain "in a green room with no broadcast feed." Not a green room without cell service or internet, nor without a closed-circuit feed, nor, for that matter, without a guy running back from the audience with notes, written in crayon.
Rick Davis's argument is, in short, illegitimate.
It is an attempt to pick a fight with the media, over the journalistic equivalent of chewing gum in class.
[crank it up a bit; we have to ramp things up for the Big Finish]
"This is irresponsible journalism and sadly, indicative of the level of objectivity we have witnessed at NBC News this election cycle," he writes.
"We are concerned that your News Division is following MSNBC's lead in abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race. We would like to request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss our deep concerns about the news standards and level of objectivity at NBC."
What Davis is really saying here, of course, is that he wants no level of objectivity, that the only campaign he wants questioned is Obama's, and that "partisan coverage" consists of questioning whether McCain or his campaign support the stage whispers branding Obama as somehow 'foreign,' or whether McCain is to be inoculated from all criticisms by dint of his military service.
[camera pivot; The Sigh of Exasperation; slam papers on desk]
Sen. McCain, did you pay any attention to the Democratic primaries?
Did you notice the hair-pulling frenzy of some of Sen. Clinton's supporters who could not face the possibility that her loss might have been her fault or theirs and thus it must be ours?
Do you remember the apoplexy of a washed up Republican operative named Ed Gillespie, writing a furious letter to NBC on behalf of President Bush?
Mr. Bush's support has since dropped.
And Sen. Clinton's supporters have now relocated to such a degree that her "eighteen million voices" first re-counted themselves as "two million" and were then unable to get even 250 people to show up at a meeting.
The public sees through this nonsense about media, Senator, they see through it quickly.
NBC and MSNBC do not have the power to seriously impact an election.
If we did, Sen. Pat Buchanan would already be serving with you.
Besides which, Senator, who in your camp thought it was a good idea to take a shot at NBC and MSNBC during the Olympics on NBC and MSNBC?!?
[louder; use the circular head shake here]
During the Olympics, Sen. McCain, on which you have already run millions of dollars' worth of McCain Campaign commercials on NBC and MSNBC!?!
[use the semi-asthmatic intake of breath, here]
Senator, let me wrap this up. You and your campaign need a serious and immediate attitude adjustment. Despite what you may think, Sen. McCain, this is not a coronation. Despite how you have acted, Sen. McCain, you have no automatic excuse to politicize anything you want.
Despite how you have whined, Sen. McCain, you have no entitlement to only sycophantic, deceptive, air-brushed coverage in the media. And despite how you have strutted, Sen. McCain, you have no God-given right to the Presidency.
[louder, crank it up to 11]
Let's have an adult campaign here, in other words and I am embarrassed to have to say this to a man who turns 72 at the end of this month Senator, grow up!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, August 18 2008.
Welcome to You Write the Recap 2.0. This is a special thread for you to post your comments on the night's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, non-barking dogs...the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website.
We'll go through the comments, organize them, and the best will form the nucleus of our official OlbyWatch Recap. That will be posted separately, later tonight, for maximum visibility and impact. You'll get credit for your contributions, because we need your help documenting the shameless "journalism" of Krazy Legs Olbermann.
We don't know if the host tonight will be Bathtub Boy or comedian Rachel Maddow. But in any event we still want you to be an Olbermann Watch blogger--without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open: post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and watch for your insights later tonight in the official OlbyWatch Recap.
Olbermann Responds to Annie NYC's Close Encounter!
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: The Doctor is In!
Once again Keith stayed in the bathtub. His place was filled by comedian Rachel Maddow, the brilliantly successful Err America entertainer. A jewel in their lineup! She is, after all on 32 (count 'em!) stations. Not 22. 32.
So we have for you something else: after Annie NYC described her first-person encounter with a babbling Keith Olbermann, it appears that the infamous, deplorable one banged out a response. And it's classic.
First a few comments on tonight's Hour of Spin:
Quads: In the number 5 story, Maddow delivered a steady stream of lies and attacks against McCain. According to the grand high exalted mystic scholar, Gramm's wife was knee deep in the Enron scandal, Gramm wrote all the energy loopholes while in congress and is now simply working to make all his energy buddies even richer. On a different note, Maddow is now officially playing the female version of Olbermann, or should I say the closest thing to a female. She is following Fat Ass's Countdown format to the T now, with voice inflections, stupid jokes, oddball, even the laughing stagehand. Somehow, I think that Krazy Keith is getting some kind of perverse gratification watching Maddow play the role of Olby while he sits at home in front of the TV watching doing god knows what.
10th Cavalry: I would guess he is probably trying to teach the jailbait how to sign her name rather than use an X.
CountDung: Olby's jailbait, "Keith, why do I always have to wear this short butch wig, put fake moles on my neck and wear this playdoh on my adam's apple when she's on?"
But on to Annie NYC, who recently memorialized her brush with greatness (i.e. Merkle) outside the NBC building. It appears that "Man on Fan" Olbermann didn't take kindly to that, and he wrote about it in his blog. Or rather Keith Olbermann's Ego wrote about it:
I have no problem with her writing about me but where's the love? Where's the fawning? I need that dammit....
Those people at Kos nailed me to the wall on that one and I had to do a special comment and all of that because they did. They act like I owe them something because I blog on their damn site. Don't they know that it's all about me and not them? I'm there to plug my show and receive love, what don't they get about that?...
Hey! I was polite to you so what's the problem? So I'm not the genius you thought I was? Sue me. I have a lot on my mind. Baseball. Chicks. Got it?...
Fifty damn thousand hits about me being a misogynist. I love women. Come on. I love them! I even live with one. And she's 23! See how much women love me?
Heh. Read more, straight from the mind of the infamous, deplorable one, at Keith Olbermann's Ego.
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: The Doctor is In!
Curiouser and curiouser. Reportedly the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann appeared live on A-Mess-NBC today to promote tonight's Hour of Spin, tossing in a blatant lie about how he trounced O'Reilly on Wednesday. But tonight, no Bathtub Boy. Err America comedian Rachel Madcow showed up in his place.
So we will bring you instead an astonishing report by someone who had a close encounter with "Man on Fan" Olbermann himself. A chance meeting near the NBC building that reduced Edward R Olbermann to uncomfortable blabbering.
We'll get to this dramatic first-person account momentarily. But a few words about tonight's Hour of Spin are in order, since our OlbyWatch recappers team still found a few things notable.
Quads: Olby is in the bathtub acting like Kris Kristopherson. Rachael Maddow....A STAR IS BORN!
Philly: Madcow tarts up once more to spew her brand of Err America agitprop for the MSDLC Hour of Spin. Where's Olby? Is he hiding under his desk? She is wearing the same suit as Gordon Smith. They must have the same tailor.
SP: Poor Keefie. After all the hard work last night going after Limbaugh, indignantly calling him a "hole," Rush refused to take the bait today and, as usual, never mentioned KO. So Keefie sulks in his tub, his ploy to gain a few more fewers through a manufactured feud with Rush is foiled again.
We wonder if the publication of the following incident threw Oralmann off his game tonight and sent him back to the tub. Annie NYC tells her readers that she had a chance encounter with Edward R Olbermann:
He was nervous and nerdy, hands in his pockets the whole time, he really seemed like a hollow fool. i was actually very surprised, i thought he had more than this.
It already sounds convincing.
Ok, what is with the hillary hate.
I don't hate her.
gimme a break. what is your problem with her, just tell me.
i don't hate her, i hate her policies and tactics
her policies? Obama is to the right of her!
he's moving to the middle because he's trying to win!
This sounds truer by the minute. The immediate springing to defense of Obama for moving to the middle, something he condemned Hillary for doing just a few months ago. Just what a tank-dweller would say.
what about late may Axelrod faxing YOUR worst person in the world report on her RFK comments to all the media, really? Hillary is the worst person in the world?!
that was only 10 minutes, and that's axelrod, it's not him...
Oh man, on the lame-o-meter, that's at least a nine. Hey, don't get mad. I didn't make Hillary a worst person in a 30-second segment. No, I screamed at her and pounded the table for ten solid minutes!That's his defense? Annie concludes:
The entire time, NO INTELLECTUAL RESPONSE WHAT-SO-EVER. NONE. NADA. ZILCH. Nothing new, just anything that some uninformed kid on the street would say. WOW. He was very nice, but i was blown away by how lame his responses were. amazing. He even at one point mentioned that he was called a misogynist, as if he couldn't understand why! wow. Maybe he didn't think suggesting someone should kill Sen. Clinton, hatred.
These are just highlights. Read the whole deal, and decide for yourself if this doesn't in fact capture the essence of Keith Olbermann, deprived of a teleprompter, faced with an opposing view, without The Laughing Stagehand to prop up his failing self-esteem.
Joel McHale, co-conspirator in tiresome, unfunny PR stunt
Today the meat of it is in the opening spiel. Two great big honking displays of Olbypocrisy so glaring that you almost need sunglasses to look at them.
First, Olbermoronn is teasing ihis attack du jour on Limbaugh:
OLBERMANN: Comedian [Ding!] Rush Limbaugh crosses the last line!
LIMBAUGH: Given his wife is smarter than he is and probably nagging him a lot about doing this, and he--found somebody that did something with her mouth other than talk.
OLBERMANN: Rush Limbaugh is a whole.
A whole what? Olby didn't say. But does no one see the irony? The rank hypocrisy? Has everyone forgotten Edward R Olbermann's own sensitive commentary?
OLBERMANN:Paris Hilton claims she was punched in the face yesterday morning at a nightclub in Hollywood [pause] 'Course she's had worse things happen to her face.
And Rev Olbermann says Limbaugh "crossed the line"! Relive the fun of Oralmann's sleaze: watch the video!
Now just seconds after this bit of self-embarrassment, Bathtub Boy walks into another propeller. Teasing an attack on Sean Hannity (is that all The Hour of Spin is now, attacks on people with larger audiences than Olby's?) Fat ass complains that Fixed News [Ding!] was "beating the Edwards story to death" yesterday, because it was discussed on Hannity & Colmes.
It couldn't have been funnier when Olbermoronn signed off, and MSNBC's The Verdict kicked off its hour with--an in-depth discussion of the Edwards story, which took up nearly the entire show! Meanwhile, H&C gave it five minutes, at the end of the hour. Who's beating the story to death, Merkle? Are you going to slam Dan Abrams tomorrow? Of course not. By your own standards, you have no manhood. As Karma can attest.
Philly:
How is John McCain's statement "We are All Georgians" arrogant, Clarence Page? Once again, Olby blames everyone but Vlad Putie-tang for the invasion and occupation of Georgia. No one heeded warnings, yadda yadda. Olby and the Moonbats keep comparing Russia's most recent atrocity with the invasion of Iraq. How is Georgia's president anything like Saddam Hussein, a villain and murderer? Stupidity is contagious on OlbyPlanet.,
Quads:
In the 4th story in the Countdown, the democratic veepstakes was discussed. If Fat Ass is reading the tea leaves correctly, the nation will be treated to either Joe "Dunkin Donuts" Biden or Evan Bayh as BhO's VP pick.
In the opinion of Quads, Bayh is probably out -- since he now eerily looks like he can pass for John Edwards, if he only got one of those $400 haircuts. Those Americans who cling to religion, guns and the National Enquirer will no doubt be confused that Bayh may actually be Edwards in disguise. Biden has a litany of gaffes dating back 20 years from plagiarism to Indian slurs. Both Olby and SleezCilliza felt his plagiarism-gate of 20 years ago was ancient history. Leave it to Olby to introduce The Keating 5 and McCain's marital mulligan--which is even more ancient history. Only on Olby planet can one democratic piece of news appear old and an older piece of republican history appear relevant.
Both hyenas chuckled and agreed that perception matters more than reality with the veepstakes and the VP pick should be designed merely to "do no harm". What? Is that it? Do no harm? How many endless hours on Olbyplanet have the VP choices been discussed? Now, the VP choice is dismissed as an "insignificant" subject.
I guess perception is going to have to trump reality since "Dunkin Donuts Biden" amassed around 3 delegates during the presidential campaign and will make an absolutely awful VP choice. He is the equivalent of John Kerry on steroids. I wonder how much air-time Fat Ass is going to dedicate to Biden's temper -- As much as McCain's?
Fat Chance Fat Ass.
Observer Dan: The Bellowing Carnival Barker is upset. The Russian invasion is just putting too much of a spotlight on John McCain. Fat Ass decides to connect him some dots. Lots and lots o' dots. Konspiracy Keef manages to blame the entire mess on John McCain and his foreign policy advisor! Is it possible the Senator from Arizona gave the green light to tiny Georgia to make a move against the Mighty Russian Bear? Surely McCain is "bought and paid for" by Tiny Georgia? Lefty Alter has to say "whoa!" Slovenly Hack intones: " The Bush response to the mess is 'Katrinaesque'. Does Keef expect FEMA to be deployed?
Keith is having a bad week. The Edwards scandal is hard to defend, Olbermann does his best, however, including again mentioning how much more money Rush Limbaugh makes than Olby would ever dream to. Also, Olby should memo to Dan Abrams not to do yet another entire hour devoted to John Edwards being a scumbag, immediately after Keef hands the broadcast over to him. That's just plain embarrassing.
MikeH: It was a despicable (even for him) Limbaugh ATTACK on Elizabeth Edwards......One that seemed to blame HER for Edward's affair, because according to Limbaugh, she wouldn't perform felatio. Even the hard core conservatives are having some trouble defending that one!
JustinH:
I must say that I dislike Limbaugh, but it seems that he was saying that John Edwards likes felatio. And since his wife was sick, Edwards was not man enough to wait until he got better so he had to go out and get some. So KO critisizes Limbaugh for being married a few times. This coming from the same guy who just likes to avoid commitment and get some young thang who can use him to move up her career.
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute , Worse was New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. How dare he have heightened security around the newly built World Trade Center (when construction is complete). "Quote [ding!], 'normal'." "Commissioner, Mayor Bloomberg, I-I know you guys intend the best here, but I'm sorry. If you go through with this *draconian* plan, that will mean that the tip of the island of Manhattan, anyway, there, the terrorists will have won." Wow, Keithy really *is* far-left.
Worser was Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). Bachmann is "the elected representative you'd least like to be the lawyer for at a sanity hearing." Her district is "evidently populated by the inattentive." Right-wing religious website! The Republicans' protest is a "gimmick." "..so it can drop the price of gas...10 years from now...maybe?" Speaking ill of Nancy Pelosi is blasphemy to Rev. Olbermahn. "I don't know who you mean, Congresswoman. I mean, I would *guess* that you're talking about Jesus." Perish the thought, right, Olb-atheist? (Yes, that was a stretch, but I went with it.) He continued, "But since *you* act like you think *you're* Jesus, I'm just assuming you're referring to somebody else."
Worst was Ed Tinsley, running for Congress in New Mexico. It doesn't matter the reason; let's get to the comeback, where Keith responds to a question Tinsley asked his opponent (whom I pessimistically think he'll probably lose to). "I don't know, Mr. Tinsley. Maybe the same way you can talk about how you could conjure up the image of your own kin getting their throats cut just to score points in a political campaign. To its credit, the crowd *boooooed* so vigorously, the rest of Mr. Tinsley's exploitation of his nephews...could not be *heard*. Ed Tinsley, Republican Congressional Nominee in the 2nd District of New Mexico. Today's...Worst...Person..." Okay, we get it.
#1: Joel McHale, who continued the destruction of his reputation by appearing on "Countdown" and allowing Edward R. Olbermann to appear on "The Soup."
Katy Turic: Upside-down is how they fly the flag
Olympians and patriots gag
(MS)NBC
Would prefer anarchy
And Obama has them in the bag
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 829th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
RATINGS TROUBLE: TIME FOR AN O'REILLY ATTACK EXTRAVAGANZA!
Guests:
Howard Fineman, Pundit for All Occasions
Chris Kofinis: Democratic party hack
Rachel Maddow, failed Err America comedian
Jonathan Turley, aka The Perfessor
Believe it or not, to Edward R Olbermann, settling a lawsuit is the same thing as paying hush money to a mistress and the fall guy who took the baby bullet for the randy Senator! There's one slight difference: lawsuit settlements are indisputably legal.
Philly:
Chris Kofinis is again shilling for Barry Soetoro. [Don't forget to check out the latest update to The List! --J$] We can set our clocks to the Soetoro tank dweller. Tank Boy says McCain has crossed "a political rubicon" by saying Soetoro is not American enough. Rip-n-Read Olby said Hillary Clinton's refusal to brand Soetoro as un-American was a great accomplishment regardless of any other rotten thing she has done. Nice touch with the knife-turn, Olby. Stay classy.
I will refer to the socialist formerly known as Barack Obama by his adopted name of Barry Soetoro, which just might be his legal name . If this is the case, all of the money for the "O" propaganda is going down the rathole. That would be an interesting development.
ktt:
Why is Olbermann trying to blow smoke up HRC's behind now? He understands he's only sitting in the Obama/Kos/DU section of the Dem party seats. How will he make his way back in the Clintons' good graces because they're not going anywhere and he'll do anything to look like he belongs with the cool kids.
J$:
This is rich. Tonight Rachel Madcow, radio entertainer and failed talk show host, is playing a military historian! 'Nuff said. As for Olby and the Perfessor, we did our usual: set up a clock to see how long it took him to allege a federal crime. Tick tock tick tock: [Ding!] 14 seconds. A new OlbyPlanet record!
MikeC:
O'Reilly Attack #504. Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann continues to feed his Olbsession by linking the Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young hush money to the evil O'Reilly settling his suit with the disgruntled former employee whom I will name and provide [dings] for momentarily. It's an enormous stretch, but hey, this is OlbyPlanet.
The segment began with OlbyFriend Seth MacFarlane voicing the introduction to "Factor Fiction" as Stewie Griffin. I'll spare you the copy (script), but it ends with Stewie...uh...tinkling on our humble correspondent. Classy. Oralmann says "Bill O'Reilly is the gift that keeps on giving, and the bottomless mug of root beer, and for the matter, the bottomless *pit*, too." We could say the same about you, Rip 'n Read. The upper-right graphic reads "The Falafel [ding!] Guy Fatwa" and features the big head on the small body; stuff we're used to by now. Frank Burns of News! [ding!] Sideshow Bob comparison. Delusions of grandeur! "Billo the Clown [ding!] goes after John Edwards and manages only to remind everyone about Andrea Mackris [ding!] while actually making feel sorry for John Edwards." (See? I told you I'd be dinging her name eventually.) "The translation to human is mine." Human? If you want the human translation, watch the video of the segment that is distorted by KeithO the Klown:
Meanwhile, on OlbyPlanet, the Ted Baxter voice rears its ugly head again. First, here is how the Talking Points Memo began last night:
O'REILLY: We had the mistress story last spring, but chose not to air it because of the pain it would bring to Elizabeth Edwards, a brave woman, and her three children. Also, Edwards was out of politics by then. If he had held power, it would have been a different story.
Keithy only read the first sentence and played serious, referring to Bill as essentially being a cold, uncaring, xenophobic bigot (not using those words) following the ow house firer in the Bronx in March '07. He "ignored the grief." "Their immigration status was so much more important to O'Reilly than their heartbreak that he almost got into an on-air fist fight with Geraldo Rivera over the story!"
Aha! Another Olbermann Lie. The "fist fight" was in the wake of a fatal car crash in Virginia Beach in April '07 that killed two teenage girls. The driver that caused the accident was a criminal illegal alien (not a regular one). However, considering that the crash happened only a month after the deadly Bronx fire, I can understand why BOR got as worked up as he did (before he and Geraldo returned to normal in the last minute; it was just heated debate, after all).
Olbermahn went on to read more from T-Points, but stopped short of the clip of Joseph Califano asserting BOR's point about the majority of homeless vets being addicted or mentally ill:
JOSEPH CALIFANO, AUTHOR, "HIGH SOCIETY": Our work and most of the research will show that about 90 percent of the homeless in this country have drug problems or alcohol problems or both. The real tragedy here is most of those veterans have had combat experience that are suffering from drug and alcohol problems and mental health problems, and we are not taking care of them.
O'REILLY: And that is the true story. It has nothing to do with the economy. For calling Edwards on his exploitation, we were subject to stuff like this:
Keith responded: "In Billo [ding!] land, if you are addicted or mentally ill, it doesn't matter if you got that way while you served this country. It's all your fault, and the government should not spend Bill O'Reilly's money on you."
But let's go back to T-Points:
O'REILLY: What bull. Just so you know, about 10 days ago, the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a report saying there are 125,000 chronically homeless in America right now. 10,000 homeless veterans. 10,000. So Edwards was simply lying.
In addition, we examined how Edwards himself fit into his "two America" scenario. We showed you his over-the-top $6 million house in North Carolina, located across the street from a mobile home park where everyday folks live. We sent our crews down to talk to some of those folks about Edwards, who often jogs by.
That second paragraph was, of course, ignored by Merkle. Instead: "Actually, Bill is lying or too stupid to have read the entire H.U.D. report. Or both." Bogus stats shown on screen to make Edwards look like the hero and our humble correspondent look like the idiot. Playing serious again: "John Edwards was and is *damned right* about that and Bill O'Reilly is a lying snake oil salesman." We're going that route again? "So, did he pull that 10,000 homeless veterans figure out of his...brains? No. He misread intentionally or otherwise a joint announcement *from* Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs..." Oh, I can't take this anymore! Whatever else Oralmann did in the remaining 2:20 is irrelevant to me.
ktt:
This is rich. While Olbermann is pissing around with some kind of Frank Burns imitation and ranting about number discrepancies, O'Reilly is discussing the need to follow the Edwards campaign money. I am curious where the millions to support the mistress, the child, and the campaign advisor came from also. So which segment has more substance?
If the stories from Kamabites1 are true, KO is in no position to be teasing sex scandals, and I'm betting they are. Word has it he's not exactly a stand up guy in that territory (without phamaceuticals anyway). At least O'Reilly didn't have a website devoted to his commentary before, during, and after a supposed liasion with a fan. One has to wonder if money changed hands to make that site disappear.
Wouldn't it be great if some night he accidently said "Karmabites1" instead of "Andrea Makris". Damn that would be worth sitting thru this torture. I hope he ends the O'Reilly segment with a Shakespeare quote. That would make my night. Wonder if he still wears the blue beads for luck.
Philly:
For this relief, much thanks.
Katy Turic: Countdown's about Bill and FoxNews
Bashing Bush and Keith's latest ruse
Untruthful reporting
Obama supporting
Phone it in and simply hit snooze
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 828th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Olbermann Ridicules Bush over Flag as MSNBC Does Worse!
On Countdown Monday night, Edward R Olbermann took aim at George W Bush for improperly holding up an American flag at an Olympics event. Ironically, as Olby was taking his cheap shot, his own news channel was making a hypocrite out of him. Again.
MSNBC is stonewalling all questions. Is this some further pander to blue blog audiences? Is MSNBC disrespecting the American flag? Perhaps Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann will explain it all tonight.
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, August 12 2008.
Welcome to You Write the Recap 2.0. This is a special thread for you to post your comments on the night's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, non-barking dogs...the works. Watch the first showing, the repeat, or view the videos at the Countdown website.
We'll go through the comments, organize them, and they will form the nucleus of our official OlbyWatch Recap. That will be posted separately, later tonight, for maximum visibility and impact. We'll credit all the commenters for their contributions, and may toss a few opinions of our own into the mix. We need your help to document the shameless "journalism" of Krazy Legs Olbermann.
What to watch for tonight: We actually have a leak about tonight's "worst person" segment. Herr Olbermahn is going to branch out and do something original, unprecedented, unique. You guessed it: another O'Reilly attack. Heads up, MikeC. The word is "Man on Fan" Olbermann is going to equate the hush money paid to Reille Hunter and Andrew Young with...(drumroll)...O'Reilly settling his lawsuit! All of this as MSNBC flies the American flag upside-down.
Be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss! Comments are open: post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and watch for your insights later tonight in the official OlbyWatch Recap.
Paul F Tompkins, once-funny comic trapped on OlbyPlanet
Not again? Again!! Edward R Olbermann repeats his cretinous, unprofessional conduct, and lifts another story from a blue blog, and because he doesn't check his facts he lies to his audience yet again. What's that old saying about the definition of insanity?
Philly:
Olby and The Mad Cow are America-bashing again. Surprise, surprise. We are to blame for Russia's invasion of Georgia. It's all our fault that KGB loyalists run Russia and and pine for the days of totalitarian glory and brutality. Putie-Tang is pulling a Hitler and annexing those former Soviet satellite countries that suffered so greatly during the Cold War. And we're to blame, America, says Olby and The Mad Cow.
Maybe we'll see an Edwards Puppet Theater: a re-enactment of The Breck Girl's recent 3 a.m. visit with Rielle, Bob McGovern and the baby (what baby?) at the Beverly Hilton. [Or, maybe not. Edwards has a (D) after his name, remember. --J$]
The Factor: IT'S ALL BUSH'S FAULT!!!!!! If not for Iraq Vlad the Impaler would have never invaded Georga. If a Democrat were in office they could use the mighty power of peace talks to change the heart and mind of Vlad the Impaler. Remember peace through peace. Ronald Reagan used flower power to blow down the Berlin wall.
ktt:
Every time I switched over he was pointing out others' mistakes. KO really should rethink the Teddy Roosevelt quote about "It's not the critic who counts ...but the man who is actually in the arena." I have no respect for Olbermann because what accomplishments has he brought to pass? What contribution has he made to better society? His silly "NewsHour"? Surely that's a joke. His so-called speaking truth to power? Again, a farce. Who put him in a position to correct or mock others when he is so flawed? I wish I could add some humor tonight but KO disgusts me. Sorry. I'll try to do better next time.
UPDATE from DeeJay:
First we know that KeithO can't find Winona on a map and now he reveals he doesn't know much about history. On tonight's show he told his viewers that President Teddy Roosevelt led the charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American war. The charge was actually led by General Leonard Wood, for whom an Army reservation in Missouri has been named (and of which I have less than fond memories). KeithO takes great delight in excoriating O'Reilly on his facts. KeithO should get his own facts straight before he lets his mouth overload his ass.
Note to KeithO: Winona ain't in Wisconsin, like you told folks on your show many moons ago. Be careful of that ass-to-mouth connection. BTW, KeithO, learn the correct pronunciation of the capital of Denmark. The Danes don't like the way you pronounce it (Cop-en-HOG-en), and for good reason which you probably don't know.
The Factor:
Former Philadelphia Flyer and Norris Trophy winner Rachel Maddow puts on her foreign policy expert hat tonight. Someone needs to tell her to shave that 5 o'clock shadow. Olbermann attacks Angelina Jolie because she has not goose stepped behind Obamanation yet. Remember thinking is not allowed on OlbyPlanet. You might get convicted of a thought crime and purged like the sock puppet we can't speak of.
MikeC:
In the Media Matters Minute, Sean Hannity, Stuart Shepherd, and Gregg Jarrett (Blue Blog Source: Think Propaganda). Edward R. Olbermann lifted an anti-Jarrett story from that site and ran with it. Johnny poked many holes in the T-Pro story yesterday at J$P. In Olbermoronn's mind, FNC really doesn't care about the Russia-Georgia conflict, and Bonnie Erbe is an interview hijacking heroine. Did he even bother to check the facts? If so, he'd see that it was covered intensely in the hour or so of "America's Election HQ" leading up to the Erbe interview. Steve Harrigan in Tbilisi (twice), Amy Kellogg in Moscow, Douglas Paal of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in D.C., and Gregg Jarrett and Julie Banderas in New York. But of course, Fat Ass didn't bother to check. Fixed News! [ding!] "This is one of the all-time great non-sequiturs." Keith did a radio DJ-esque voice for Jarrett. The factless Merkle's snarky comeback was: "Do you ever get the sense that if one of these poor schmucks over there at Fox Noise [ding!] lets the conversation stray away *from* the White House Talking Points, you get beaten savagely by Roger Ailes?" Again, an hour of Georgia overlooked by Think Progress and eaten up as fact by Man on Fan. You know why, but I'll repeat it anyway: because KeithO the Klown is a slovenly political hack. Anything that doesn't fit his agenda doesn't get reported in the Hour of Spin. You know, I think that'd make a Dog that Didn't Bark.
Worse was Hannity. I skipped through some of it, but heard Olby quoting what sounded like the lead-in to a "Hannity and Colmes" segment. A lead-in rhetorical question is not an opinion, Olbermoronn. Worst was that Shepherd (or is it Shepard?) guy. I've never heard of him.
The Factor:
Do you ever get the sense that if Olbermann at MSDNC lets the conversation stray away from what is posted at Think Propaganda or The Daily Kook that the storm troopers at those blogs would smash their keyboards through their TV sets?
John-O:
Keith is still desperately trying to convince the world (or lately 503,000 people) that Fox accepts talking points from the White House. I didn't know talking about Edwards' affair was an official TP.
J$:
"Man on Fan" Olbermann referred to Gregg Jarrett as "a Fox Noiser [Ding!] who won't talk about Georgia, only John Edwards". First of all, Jarrett was the co-anchor with Julie Banderas. Because Think Progress didn't mention that, Oralmann had no clue. And while Fat Ass dutifully parroted the Think Propaganda headline (Jarrett "refused" to discuss Georgia), that--like what Olby said--was a lie. As Mike C laid out above, there was plenty of Georgia coverage in the 70 minutes before the interview (that was supposed to be about Edwards). We even did a little video to demonstrate to one and all how badly TP, and now Olbermann, misrepresented the broadcast:
Quite a bit of Georgia coverage there, Keith, considering you claimed they "refused" to cover Georgia. Again, Rip 'n' Read Olbermann lifts a story from a blue blog and doesn't even bother to check. (During that same time period MSNBC had, how much coverage of the Georgia war? NONE!)
Oh, there was also a bit tonight attacking Bush for holding a flag backwards or something like that. Pretty bizarre given that MSNBC's own logo uses a flag flying upside-down!
Katy Turic: Blue blog rip-n-read bag of gas
With Keith there's no ethics or class
He's a Kos blogger
A camera hogger
He's got the Sunday Times up his ass
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 827th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Nate Silver, undiscovered math genius with Kreskin-like powers to see the future
Oy. What a revolting display of bias, hypocrisy, and repellent narcissism. Oh, just to make it clear, we're talking about Olby, not Silky.
Philly:
Betrayal! Private scandal, public lies! Sounds like the Autobiography of Keith Olbermann. Why did Olby start his program with hypotheticals? What if Edwards had gotten the nomination and then the scandal broke? Huh? What if Spartacus had a Piper Cub? The air is especially thin tonight on OlbyPlanet.
Poor Lefty Andrea Mitchell is devastated. She is stumbling over her words. Olby is the poster child for that condition and it appears to be catching. OUCH! Fred Baron said he paid Baby Mama hush money (only it wasn't really hush money, you see). Olby's voice quivers. Another Democratic soap opera. And moonbats wonder why they can't win a presidential election.
Former Edwards lackey Chris Kofinis has been making the rounds on cable news tonight to spew the party line. Olby's using big words. Oooh. Vituperous. And he didn't stumble over it. [Naturally, we have updated The List! --J$]
Olby is particularly orange tonight.
dcMeyer
Let's compare: An unsubstantiated report about McCain and a lobbyist gets "breaking news" and a full hour of coverage in olbyland. Edwards admits to having an affair and doesn't. No wonder OIlbermahn's numbers are dropping below pathetic. It seems people are finally getting sick of his hateful and one sided schtick.
MikeC
In the Media Matters Minute, Worse was another McCain attack. This was over his statement following the Hamdan sentencing. McCain "exaggerated reality...again" over his involvement with al Qaeda. "But that's not what the jury ruled," said Judge Olbermahn, with papers in hand. "It convicted him of supplying resources to al Qaeda. Namely, himself as Bin Laden's driver. But this is getting clearer. John McCain either lies or can't tell the difference between reality and stuff he dreamed or imagined." [Back to the "delusional" meme. --J$]
Worst was Newt Gingrich. How dare he criticize the almighty Obama over his "citizen of the world" line in Berlin. As he did with KSFO's Brian Sussman last week, Krazy Keith played the "Reagan said it, too" irony card to make a conservative critical of Obama look dumb. "And Newt, let me tell ya. If you're gonna throw Ronald Reagan under the bus, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you step outside." Rightward head tilt, puffy lip.
Now, back to the Olbsession. On Wednesday, "Factor" producer Jesse Watters confronted Palm Beach Post editorial page editor Randy Schultz at his home. The video was run in yesterday's Talking Points:
O'REILLY: Down in South Florida, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper covered the Wexler situation professionally, advancing the story, telling its readers the truth. But The Palm Beach Post is quite a different story. That paper has been a far-left concern for years. And after The Factor's expose on Wexler, The Post wrote the congressman had done nothing wrong and then attacked us for reporting the story.
The head hatchet man was editorial page editor Randy Schultz, a committed left-wing zealot. Factor producer Jesse Watters caught up with Schultz yesterday.
JESSE WATTERS, "O'REILLY FACTOR" PRODUCER: We just wanted to know, why are you in the tank for Robert Wexler? No comment? You say rather than tell Bill O'Reilly at FOX News where to get off, Wexler announced he would lease an apartment in his district. That's what he should be doing. And you're attacking O'Reilly for pointing this out and reporting this?
RANDY SCHULTZ, PALM BEACH POST EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: You're on my property. Please get off. You're on my property.
WATTERS: I mean, you should be ashamed of yourself. This is corrupt reporting, sir.
SCHULTZ: Oh, you know what? If I took what you said seriously, I'd worry about it.
Isn't Mr. Schultz something? Coming out of the clip, Mr. Bill's response was:
O'REILLY: Now few people care about The Palm Beach Post or that guy. The Post has lost 10 percent of its readership in the past two years, and now you know why. But here's the bigger picture, the important picture. No longer can Americans trust the media, which was given special constitutional privileges to look out for the folks.
The Palm Beach Post and many other media outlets are in the business of advancing a political cause: liberalism. And there's no balance in this ideological intrusion. Few American newspapers are conservative. So for the first time in American history, the curtain has been pulled back. Media ideology has greatly aided Barack Obama in his quest to be president. And now it's being used as a blunt instrument.
If The Palm Beach Post wants to be a liberal brochure, its parent company the Cox Corporation should simply state that. Don't attack journalists who do honest reporting. The folks in Congressman Wexler's district have a right to know where the man lives and what his tax situation is. We provided that. The Palm Beach Post did not. You decide which enterprise is noble.
After all that information, I can finally tell you how Oralmann responded tonight. Billo the Clown! [ding!] Fat Ass referred to "his [O'Reilly's] neurotic attention to where Congressman Robert Wexler's legal residence is." Schultz "aptly" dismissed him. "Naturally, since Billy is the Joe McCarthy wannabe of our time and thinks his coverage of Wexler's perfectly legal residency is a, quote, (Ted Baxter voice): 'Expose', (normal voice): he sent one of his stalker producers [ding!] to editor Schultz's home." A Jesse Watters attack follows: "In the tape, little Jesse shouted phrases like: (squeaky-voiced teen voice): 'In the tank,' (normal): and, (teen): 'corrupt reporting,' (normal): and, (teen): 'you should be ashamed of yourself,' (normal): at Schultz. And then Billo [ding!] came back on and entoned: Now few people care about The Palm Beach Post or that guy."
Keitho the Klown stopped there, after one sentence, ignoring the rest of the T-Points, and entoned in a calm, patronizing voice, "Oh? Then, why did you send a reporter to Florida? Why did you do a story on him?" Incredulous smirk. By the way, I'm not sure if referring to a producer as "a reporter" is a promotion or an insulting demotion. Assume the latter.
Observer Dan: KEITHS CREEPIEST MOMENT: Olbermann, the misguided "wannabe Edward R. Murrow" calling Bill O'Reilly the "wannabe Joseph Mcarthy".
J$: If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 23 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 10 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -66 [sissy limp].
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 824th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Gerald Posner, conspiratorialist Jimmy Olson wannabe
Neil Katyal, failed attorney for convicted terrorist
Olbypocrisy Alert! It was only seconds into the opening spiel when Keith Olbermoronn stepped into a minefield once again, exposing himself for the slovenly political hack that he is.
Flashback: Bathtub Boy has been whipping out the anthrax investigation for years to flog the Bush administration. What's taking so long? How incompetent can they be? He was still flogging it in 2007 when he bellowed:
The entire investigation is barely still alive at this point.
And just a few weeks ago, unaware of the progress the FBI investigation was making, "Man on Fan" Olbermann addressed, bizarrely, Condi Rice (!) and snarkily complained about the slow pace of the investigation:
And since you mentioned the anthrax, and we got some of it in this office as nearly seven years ago. How is that investigation going?
So what did Fat Ass have to say today? It's a classic of Olbypocrisy:
The anthrax attacks: The Rush to Judgment!
No, we are not making this up. What a tool.
Crush:
My boss today remarked how the 'oh berrmann' show reminded him of a show that was written and researched by 7th graders. Remember to inflate your tires! Remember when Saddam Hussein told poor peasants who couldn't afford toothpaste that they should use their fingers to scrape their teeth.
story#5- Based on nbc news electoral map analysis. Once McCain chooses Romney, wisc/iowa/minn will lean Republican. I cant even believe I'm using an NBC news map based on faulty info, but whatever.
#4 is about the anthrax dude who commited suicide before he spent his remaining years in a federal prison. I know it's every citizen's duty to question the government, but when you have feds and scientists and corporations all getting together to create militarized anthrax to unleash on a very selective few Americans, you gotta stop believing Elvis is alive and stop searching for the man on the grassy knoll.
#3 Keith is afraid that trying terrorists in Gitmo will lead to American soldiers who are captured to be tried in a similar way. Idiot. They would be beheaded or John McCained.
Mike C:
#2: The Media Matters Minute. Worse was You-Know-Who. We'll get to that in a moment.
Worser was Brian Kilmeade. (Why does Keith hate soccer coaches?) Fixed News! [ding!] Enacting Republican Talking Points! How dare he criticize St. Ron Suskind! Blasphemy on OlbyPlanet. Dumb guy voice for Coach Brian. (Holding finger in the air): "Um..." (Reading paper): "June 17, 2004. Mr. Bush [ding!] told a news conference, quote, 'the reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda...because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.' (Looking up again): Brian, never defend the President, even on the stuff that sounds crazy to you. He in history (or is it 'and history?') will always make you look like a dork."
Nikki Tinker. Who cares about that? Skiparoo.
Now, to O'Reilly Attack #502. "The bronze to Billo the Clown [ding!] who's now reduced to congratulating himself about this." Ted Baxter time again. Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann reaches back to Monday for the second night in a row. This time the Reality Check segment. Bill said The Factor audience is smarter than The Colbert Report audience and a poll proves it (in response to a newspaper article that said the opposite). Since we know not to trust Merkle, you know you can trust the poll BOR cited. ... Wait a minute. Keithy pushed fast-forward on his TiVo because he's suddenly quoting a line about being tired of "left-wing media outlets." This means that although it took me two nights to get to this point, my prediction that Fat Ass would attack our humble correspondent for that came true.
Olbermoronn's retort to Mr. Bill--as if he's paying attention--went like this: "First, the Pew Research Study was conducted in February of Two-thousand-and....zeven." I knew he'd be attacked for that aspect, too, because I agree (I feel dirty for agreeing) that the poll was a wee bit old. "But...(feigned surprise with a chuckle): gosh, Billy..." The sophomoric-and-never-junior-or-senior staff laughs on cue. "...you're crowing about this? Your audience is exactly 4% smarter than those watching a Cahhh-medy show? Uh, 'scuse me. (Lurch toward camera): Another comedy show?" Back to serious/is-that-Billo [ding]-for-real face and on to Worser and Worst.
JustinH:
I watched a little bit of the #1 story: "Doesn't McCain know Paris is mocking him?" He just got compared to Yoda!!! Who wouldn't want to be compared to Yoda!? I dream of being compared to Yoda. "Doesn't he realise they're calling him old?" McCain knows he's old. He knows he has white hair. Newsflash: John McCain has a sense of humor! Oh, dear Lord! Then Olbermann with Maria Milito get to talking about if Paris wrote it herself...."whatever." I saw a better review of this advertisement on "Attack of the Show" on G4. Personally, I thought the Paris Ad was awesome and hilarious. And Olbermann is still a D-bag.
The Factor: Keith "wives should not be attacked" Olbermann suggest that Senator McCain thinks Cindy McCain is a slut. Keith "I asked Porn Star Mary Carey out on a date" Olbermann thinks that the Sturgis biker rally is full of sluts and whores. Keith then lies and says that unlike Obamanation's fabled Germany visit where "200,000" showed up to see Obamanation "only", people only saw McCain at Sturgis because they were waiting for dumb sluts. In fact before Obamanation's Berlin disaster, there was a free rock concert by a popular German band. Oh, and last time I checked, people in Germany can't vote for President of the United States but bikers at Sturgis can despite what Olbermann wishes.
J$:
Dogs That Did Not Bark:
The one canine who will never be heard on OlbyPlanet is the one that makes corrections. You know, like Olbermann's recent lie about Bill O'Reilly, that he went out of his way not to correct. So it is that a few days ago, Herr Olbermahn was once again taking someone else's words and repeating them. And like the O'Reilly lie, it's another case of not even bothering to check the video to see if they're true! To wit:
OLBERMANN: That not only in that McCain ad were there two underdressed blondes mixed with the black guy in the ad, but there are also images of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Washington Monument, and the Victory Column in Berlin, as Bob Herbert put it, "phallic symbols"--three phallic symbols, two blondes and Barack Obama.
In this case, Edward R Olbermann was relying on Herbert's word. Who needs to actually look at the video anyhow? One slight problem. As The Daily Howler pointed out, it's not true!
Except that isn't the Leaning Tower of Pisa--and that isn't the Washington Monument. What you see is a structure at the Berlin location where Obama was giving his speech. Karl Rove will pay Bob Herbert good money to discuss phallic symbols in John McCain's ads. (There's a bonus for spotting the Leaning Tower of Pisa when it isn't actually there.)... Olbermann had twelve hours to check his facts--but he still was repeating these world-class blunders. For the record, no one had "noticed" those famous structures because they aren't in the ad.
We said it before, and we'll say it again. What a tool.
Katy Turic:
Olby and his tire(d) rotation
Every night there's no deviation
Bash Fox, Bush, McCain...
Sophomoric, inane
Just like Obama's nomination
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 822nd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
Milbank: I Was Banned from Countdown for Defending McCain Advisor!
Breaking! Dana Milbank tells noted political hack Michael Calderone of Poitico that the genesis of his disenchantment with Keith Olbermann and Countdown was an incident where Milbank dared to make a mildly favorable statement about McCain advisor Charlie Black:
A source familiar with the situation told Politico that Milbank had been unhappy on the show for a couple of months and expressed this sentiment to friends. But it wasn't until directly after an incident last month that Milbank made a move.
During the first week of July, Milbank spoke to executive producer Katy Karp about why he had not been on the show for a couple of weeks. At that point, Milbank was told that there was an issue among staff with something positive he said the previous month about Charlie Black, a McCain senior adviser.
Calderone is known for being spoon-fed stories by interested parties seeking to use Politico as an outlet to wage war against their enemies, something Milbank apparently knows quite well. OlbyWatch readers will know that for years, TVNewser's Brian Stelter, know of The New York Times, was Keith's mouthpiece in the blogosphere. So, it will be interesting to see if the Milbank-Olbermann Feud becomes a case of dueling hack blogs.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Robert Cox contributed to this post]
NO CHENEY IS A CRIMINAL CONSPIRATOR, UNLESS HE ISN'T
JOHN McCAIN ATTACK DU JOUR
JOHN McCAIN ATTACK DU JOUR PART DEUX
NIGHTLY O'REILLY ATTACK (#501)
Guests:
Ron Susskind, invoker of anonymous sources
John "Watergate" Dean, felon and disbarred lawyer
Howard Fineman, Pundit for All Occasions
Comedian Rachel Madcow, Err America failure
It's Tuesday: "Anything Can Happen Day" on OlbyPlanet. That means it's time for another round of speculation and one-sided reportage on the eeevil criminal conspiracies of the Bush/Cheney "Third Reich".
Philly: Oh, a cable exclusive! Herr Olbytard hosts Ron Suskind, conspiracy theorist, to flog his book The Way of the World. He claims that CIA sources say the Bush White House issued a fake letter saying Saddam had ties to al Qaeda. Yawn.
Oh great - Olby and Our Favorite Felon are discussing Suskind's book. Olby cannot claim that any of Suskind's allegations are true, yet he is asking OFF (for short) to confirm that "if" they are true, do they constitute criminality. Why would one bother to speculate about heresay? Oh, this is Olby we're talking about, and as a notorious smear merchant, dealing in innuendo is his forte. Nice that Olby also does not explain what he means by "criminality".
The Factor:
Even Jon Stewart threw cold water on Keith's "racist ad" theory. That's pretty sad when one Olbermann's fellow propaganda providers can't even stomach one of his cockamamie conspiracy theories.
ktt:
KO is quick to note McCain's stumbling over his words at Sturgis but he really should check his own. This excerpt is from a recent Joel Keller interview, his idea of a complete paragraph:
Personally, I could not make it... I was supposed to go to the Clinton Foundation Christmas party last December. I mean, that I was (on the air) criticizing them, was deeply, personally painful to me. I'm sure they will say not as deeply personallly painful to you as it was to us, but I really agonized over it and in many respects, I held fire on it. A lot of the subjects that she did early on in the campaign did not strike me as particularly in concert with the rest of the Democratic feel, so, you know, it wasn't personal - it really wasn't.
Yeah, Shakespeare, you're quite the writer there.
By the way, was there any actual news on this show tonight? NBC should be ashamed to be associated with it. It's just a "he said, he said' of McCain and Obama.
Mike C:
It is reluctantly time for me to recap the #2 story on "Countdown": The Media Matters Minute, despite Friday's O'Reilly attack hitting so far below the belt, it hit me. Naturally, and as I predicted last night, he was the Worst tonight. First, the other two victims.
Worse: "The crack security team at Brisbane Airport." Sad face over random TSA agent. Skip.
Worser: Yet another McCain attack. Gotcha! McCain gets money from oil companies! (So does Obama, but considerably less.) Horrors! Okay, let's get to the Worst.
O'Reilly Attack #501. I predicted this would be over his criticism last night of The New York Times, Newsweek, and MSNBC. I was wrong. Instead, he was attacked for his plan in last night's Talking Points Memo (transcript, video). The plan BOR offered in T-Points sounds like a good plan to me...even though it'll never happen. But since it came from O'Reilly, and because he was critical of Obama's windfall profits tax plan, Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann has to find something wrong with it. (sigh) Okay. Here I go. I'm pushing Play.
Billo the Clown! [ding!] Sheer lunkheadedness! Ted Baxter voice (even funnier the 243rd time!). Parsing of T-Points from a Blue Blog Source. Parsed words on right side of screen, big head/little body on left side. And now, time for me to transcribe the last minute and nine seconds.
OLBERMORONN: Obama's nuts for saying we need to get big oil [ding!] to foot the bill for an energy rebate of about 1,000 bucks per American family, but Billo's [ding!] a genius for saying...we need to get big oil [ding!] to foot the bill for an energy rebate of about 1,000 bucks per American family. And how did the Ex-rons...uh, Exxons and the Chevrons respond?
Back to Baxter and parsing, and I mean really parsing. He skipped two sentences to go right to "Not...much...enthusiasm...so far." Let's put it in context by going to the transcript:
O'REILLY: Now, we contacted the five big oil corporations, and to say the response to my idea was lukewarm is to be kind. Exxon and Chevron pointed out they pay a huge amount of taxes to the government, which is true. But what about directly helping those in need? Not much enthusiasm so far. If just one of the oil companies would establish such a charitable fund, the goodwill that corporation would receive would more than make up for the money spent, as millions of Americans would buy that company's oil over the others. So we encourage the oil companies to directly help out their fellow Americans who are struggling. No one--no one--in this country should be cold this winter, but it is going to happen.
Back on OlbyPlanet we go.
OLBERMORONN: Imagine Billo's [ding!] surprise. He has told us previously... [He didn't tell you anything, Olbermoronn. You just got quotes of what he said from a Blue Blog and took them to air.--MC] ...he has people at all the big oil [ding!] companies. That when he asked Americans to use less gas, they came through big time for him. He probably thought that in the board room at ExxonMobil, they were saying...[panicky voice, featuring hand gestures and pounding on desk, straight out of the Howard Beale playbook]: 'What are we gonna do?! What are we gonna do?! Bill O'Reilly just asked us to give up 2% of our profits! I can't breathe! I can't breathe! We can't let Bill down! We need to donate $150 million or he won't like us anymore! Stan! Stan, how much you got on ya?! Stan!"
And you know the sophomoric staff laughed at every Bealish move. "Bill 'The loofah [ding!] has left the tracks' O'Reilly, today's Worst...Person... 'Stan! Stan!' ...in the World!"
Can "Stan" pay me for these recaps? This is essentially volunteer work.
The Factor:
So let me get this straight? O'Reilly is Worst Person for suggesting that the Oil companies voluntarily donate needy families but Obamanation is a genius because he thinks he can use the government to force oil companies to hand over their profits and the oil companies won't raise prices? It is time for Olbermann to invest in a history book and look up the late 1970's. Windfall profit tax means more foreign oil at higher prices. Great Thanks.
But records show that a third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more - a total of $112 million, more than the total of contributions in that category taken in by either Senator John McCain, his Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries.
Behind those large donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama "bundlers," fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more. Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. Nearly three dozen of the bundlers have raised more than $500,000, including more than a half-dozen who have passed the $1 million mark and one or two who have exceeded $2 million, according to interviews with fund-raisers.
Katy Turic:
It's the same dumb routine every night
Parade of loons and nobody right
There's felon John Dean
Maddow's frequently seen
Because Keith is afraid of a fight
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 821st day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
You'd be forgiven if you thought this was a rerun from last Friday. But it wasn't. It was just more flogging of the same OlbyPlanet crap.
Quads: Chicken and Waffle's Olbermann led with the race card in the #5 story on the Countdown. Leave it to the Democrats and their media minions to accuse McCain of playing the race card, by proactively playing the race card themselves. Did you know that the McCain ad with Obama, Spears and Hilton is actually symbolic of a black slave man sleeping with the white slave master's wife? Did you know that the monuments/structures shown in the background represents a man's penis? And drumroll please....Did you know that the McCain campaign was actually calling Obama an "Uppitty N" ?? This was all deduced by Olbermann, and Lefty Alter. That's right, we have a whole Rosetta Stone of information gleaned from a 30 second ad. We have phallic symbols, white woman and black slave images all deciphered by Citizen Keith.
What's next Keith - "I bury Paul? -- "If there's a bustle in your hedge row don't be alarmed now?" - Or perhaps we need to hear "Dark Side of the Moon" played in synchronization with the "Wizard of Oz"? All Chicken and Waffles Olbermann did tonight was remind us of an extremely ugly racial epithet and continue his campaign of smear.
Prior to this idiotic exchange was a statement by Olby that the McCain idea of a Gas tax has already been proven to be a failed idea. Amazing, that on Olby planet, Goebell's Wing Man can declare an idea proof positive dead before it is ever even put into play. It just goes to show you that Olbermann is really Groucho Marx in disguise as he gleefully sings every night about John McCain, "Whatever it is, I'm against it."
J$:
A preposterous interview with a local reporter who didn't get to ride on McCain's bus. Why? He insisted it was because he was (drumroll!) black! Couldn't have been any other reason. Well, that fits. Everyone has known for years that John McCain won't allow black people on his bus, not even in the back. Makes perfect sense to Keithy, which tells you all you need to know.
Philly:
Olby has thrown Milbank (and his day-glo duds) under the bus. Now Lefty Alter is in his place. I'm sure Milbank will be much better off wherever he is than on the much-discredited Hour of Spin. Good luck to you, Milbank. Consider this a badge of honor.
Barack Millhouse Obama tank dweller Gene Robinson claims poor working-class white Appalachian residents love The Obamessiah. He also claims that Democrats are generically way ahead of the GOP in the race. Say what? More proof that the air is thin on Olbyplanet. Olby keeps harping on the tire gauge gag that the GOP has started (and is using to their advantage). This must be a sore point for moonbats because they keep harping on it. Keep hitting, GOP.
Olby names Dana Milbank as a Best Person in the World - and promptly slimes him by repeating the Daily Kos blog post about tossing him under the bus. Kowardly Keith is a loser. Just when you think Olby can't lower the bar any more... Stay classy, Olby.
Media Critic:
Olbermann didn't fire him, his contract with MSNBC ran out and CNN hired him.
J$:
But before his contract ran out, Edward R Olbermann did not allow Milbank on the program. In deference to his corporate masters, Fat Ass waited until Milbank was no longer working for A-Mess-NBC, which meant that (just like Imus) Oralmann could then unload on him.
ktt: Is that why KO 'courageously' publicly criticized Milbank after DM was out the door? He certainly wouldn't do it to his face. Yes, timing is everything.
The Factor: Dana Milbank has been purged. He is not longer a useful idiot. He committed a thought crime. Get a shovel and a warm coat Dana. It is cold in Siberia. Typical Keith, he doesn't have the stones to debate Milbank on his article on air, so he has one of his flunkies kick Milbank off the show and then throws him under the bus from the safety of his echo chamber. We can only pray that Milbank has the good sense to drag all of Keith skeletons out of the closet. This is a good lesson for the rest of Keith's stooges, veer from the Kos party line and you will be purged. Can you imagine if O'Reilly tossed someone from his show because he didn't like and article they wrote? It would be the #1 story on The Hour of Spin for an entire week.
Scott:
And at 8:27, KO had to check in on the Kossacks to make sure he was getting their approval, before continuing with the second half of the show. What a joke this guy is. Dana Milbank just doubled his credibility by fleeing that spin-fest.
J$:
When he checked in at Kosville, do you suppose he saw this?
Mr. Olbermann: I decided after Mr. Milbank's last Countdown appearance, the column in question and...most notable your failure to make note of the specific issues in his column...that maybe you are part of the problem. As a journalist and pundit, I felt you breached your a clear responsiblity to your audience to address Dana's column directly and in a more more timely manner. Telling me how you felt now but NOT telling me then appears to be self serving. Your ratings will contiue to take a hit until you bring more credibilty to you 'Worst Person's' segment and...are able to call out people from your own network, the DNC or even the Obama effort. In an effort to regain our sanity, we have suspended watching your program and your all 'political news' shows.
Quads:
The Jimmy Olson of the Anthrax investigations was next up to discuss the suicide of the suspect who would eventually be indicted in the ongoing Grand Jury testimony. Because the facts don't matter on Olby planet, it is assumed by GWM (Goebell's Wing Man) that the White House would strong arm the FBI into pinning weapons grade Anthrax on Osama Bin Laden. It does not matter that emotions were running high days after 9/11/01-- the Bush administration was determined to pound that square peg into the round hole and pin it on OBL. Of course, none of this gibberish mattered since the facts were the facts and it was concluded that it was not the work of Al Queda (even though every major network leaped to the same thought the White House might have).
According to Jim and GWM, the investigation is far from over. Hey, there could be 10 guys other than the main suspect who were handling this particular brand of anthrax. [Jimmy isn't even believing that Ivins is the guy! --J$]
Mike C:
#2: The Media Matters Minute. Worse: "An unnamed Israeli couple." Sad faces imposed over man and woman. Worser: some House Republican. Worst: Limbannity, which is my amalgamation for "comedian [ding!]" Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. I watched about five seconds of the segment, otherwise skipping through it. Based on BOR's criticisms tonight of the NYT, Newsweek, and MSNBC, expect a Worse, Worser, or Worst nod tomorrow night. God help us.
ktt:
The Edwards story was definitely a dog that did not bark. I saw the last few minutes and he managed to get in a word or two about his being on the "football show" - isn't that the first time that Jim Vandehei has been on since he joined Politico. I thought he was banished.
Katy Turic:
John Edwards and his bastard love child
Is a fact but the story's been filed
NBC wouldn't dare
But McCain's "affair"
Was "Breaking News"... Olbermann-styled
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 820th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
MEANINGLESS DRILLING, EXCEPT WHEN IT ISN'T MEANINGLESS
WALMART IS EVIL
RUPERT MURDOCH TOO
Guests:
Richard Wolffe, UK exchange student
Gerald Posner, Bush-hating investigative reporter
Chris Hayes, tool of the far-left Nation magazine
David Willman, LA Times reporter uncomfortable on OlbyPlanet
OLBY NEWS ALERT!
Herr Olbermahn reached another milestone tonight! We'll skip the opening spiel; it was routine. All the good stuff happened afterward.
Great Thanks:
I just watched the first segment on the Anthrax killer offing himself, and I have to say WOW! For the most part, that was an even-handed accounting of the story. From the LA Times guy (who looked like he was loathe to be there) and then Pozner, I kept expecting Jimmy Legs to tie it to Bush, and except for the same-old "they scared us into war" whine at the very it, I was surprised.
J$:
It was fair for a while, but nothing can be fair for more than a minute or two on OlbyPlanet. Notice, for example, Oralmann's repetitive use of the phrase "presumed suicide", and the peculiar way he kept saying "presumed". Later he let his theory come out of the closet: the anthrax attacks were used to promote a war in Iraq (by McCain only, according to Olby's video evidence). Posner was happy to jump in on the "Bush lied, people died" bandwagon, and another Krazy Keith Konscpiracy starts to form: the killer was working for the government, maybe Cheney or even Halliburton! The attacks were necessary to juice up the war frenzy, and McCain was in on it as well. When the FBI started to close in (in true B-movie fashion) he had to be silenced. KO didn't allocute this, but a long-time OlbyWatcher can see it between the lines. Especially when you see how carefully Oralmann tried to shift the introduction of Iraq off on Pozner. Keithy clearly discussed the Iraq "connection", Pozner followed up on it, then Olbermoronn blithely told Pozner he wanted to talk more about the Iraq point "you brought up". As subtle as a Mack truck.
Flashback: it was just a few weeks ago when Merkle was making snarky comments about the anthrax case, addressing Condi Rice (hypothetically of course, she would never be allowed to appear on The Hour of Spin):
And since you mentioned the anthrax, and we got some of it in this office as nearly seven years ago. How is that investigation going?
As has been made clear, at the time "journalist" Olbermann was cracking wise at Secretary Rice (newsflash Keith: the SoD is not in charge of criminal investigations), in fact the FBI had focused in on their prime suspect and was quite far along in building their case. Um what's that? Would you repeat that please? Oh no, of course not. There's no way Oralmann would ever express an apology to Secretary Rice for attacking her when it was Krazy Keith himself who was in the wrong.
EMBARRASSING OLBERMANN MOMENT OF THE NIGHT: He's reading another one of his pre-scripted teases, and since it mentions McCain and drilling, the Kossacks require that he slant it with a McCain attack. So Edward R Olbermann refers to John McCain's call for "more meaningless drilling". Just seconds later, breaking news: Barack Obama has agreed to more drilling. Oops! All of a sudden, that drilling stopped being "meaningless" and that angle disappeared. The drilling got de-meaninglessized before your very eyes. Katy must have been ROFL.
Mike C:
In the Media Matters Minute, Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann achieved a landmark milestone that many of his baseball heroes have reached in home runs. Yes, the 500th sleazy, unprofessional Olbermann attack on Bill O'Reilly. The Olbsession was fed in the Worse category. O'Reilly, the host of the #1 cable news show for seven years and counting, was yet again in Olbermahn's crosshairs. "#3: Billo the Clown [ding!]" Loofah! [ding!] Keithy's mad that Mr. Bill touted the successful ratings numbers for "The Factor" and FNC (MSNBC came in 30th among all cable channels) in last night's Reality Check segment. The infamous hysterical Ted Baxter voice was used quoting a Blue Blog transcript of said segment. To the family and friends of the late Ted Knight, I'm very sorry you have to put up with this time after time. Ted was an icon, an American TV icon as BOR might put it, and he doesn't deserve to have his likeness besmirched by this cretin. Anyway, when Edward R. Olbermann had completed his hyperbolic reading, which featured a likely intentional mispronunciation of Kasich (Kas-itch), he said the following: "I got your reality check right here, Goober." Another TV icon besmirched. (George Lindsey was the guest for the American TV Icon segment on March 7.) Laughing from the eternally sophomoric staff. "In July, 'Countdown' was the #3 rated show in all of cable news, adults 25 to 54 behind Billo [ding!] and Hannity." Poor Alan Colmes. He doesn't exist to KeithO the Klown. "We were the #2 rated show in all of cable news, adults 18 to 49." Evil glee begins to set in. "Aaaaaand we were the #1 rated show in all of cable news, adults 18 to 34, and Billo [ding!] was third." Second was "MSNBC Investigates." Nothing like cherry-picking your ratings, eh, Fat Ass? The final blow was: "And since (leftward body/head tilt) *I* was off for two weeks in July, I want to thank Rachel Maddow for KICKING THE ASSES (staff laughs) of Laura Ingraham, John Kas-itch, and E.D. Hill. But don't worry, Bill. You're still dominating that important demographic: 65 to dead." Deep comedic inhalation, puffy face, and more staff laughs.
At this point, I have no energy to recap the rest in detail. Michele Bachmann was Worser, and Limbaugh, Bush 41, and Bush 43 were all Worst because they praised Roger Ailes. I've had it with Keith Oralmann. I can't take this crap anymore. I think I'm going to unfortunately retire from recapping of any kind. I cannot wait for the day that this monster is taken off the air! You are an awful human being and I have no damn idea how the hell you live with yourself! Do us a favor and go back to sports and stay there! Yes, John Gibson, you have my permission to read this on your show. I am Mike Chimeri (shimAIRe) and I despise Bathtub Boy.
J$: Something else worth noting is how little respect Oralmann has for the people who watch his show. Just like the time he bellowed in the opening spiel that the Pentagon cancelled Obama's troop visit (truckling to the Kos lackies) knowing that a few minutes later he would report that Obama cancelled the visit himself. Keith thinks the audience won't notice, or if they do they won't care. And he may be right. He pulled that again tonight, advertising O'Reilly attack #500 as all about O'Reilly's "shrinking ratings", bellowing that Mr Bill was "wrong" again. Of course the actual spot said nothing whatsoever about O'Reilly's ratings shrinking, going down, getting smaller, or anything like that. And bait-and-switch Olbermann never offered any evidence that O'Reilly was "wrong". Three guesses why he didn't. But once again, Olby got the lie out there, planted the thought, and the credulous lemmings who watched tonight probably all got up en masse, ran up the basement stairs and yelled, "Mom, stop watching O'Reilly. His ratings are shrinking, you know!"
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 24 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 8 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -64 [pansy limp].
Katy Turic:
Keith claims Barack's ten points ahead
Further proof that Olby's brain dead
All polls indicate
McCain's tied the slate
Better check where that train hit Keith's head
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 817th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
The opening spiel is always an important part of The Hour of Spin. It's where Oralmann slips in some of his worst distortions, ilke when he used it to claim that it wasn't Obama who cancelled the troop visit, it was the Pentagon. Conveniently for Bathtub Boy, MSNBC doesn't save video of the opening spiel. That makes it kind of a free-fire zone.
Tonight, Herr Olbermann used the spiel to call John McCain a liar, and then to ridicule him for taking exception to Obama's use of the race card. Why, asked Merkle, did he suddenly object now, when Obama's said that sort of thing three times before? Because, Olberliar, this is the first time Obama accused not some vague "they", but John McCain himself. He said that McCain was going to tell people to be wary of Obama because "he doesn't look like all those other Presidents". Naturally, "Man on Fan" Olbermann didn't tell his viewers that. It would have spoiled a wonderful smear.
J$:
#5 was more harping on the Britney Spears ad (how many days is this going to be a lead story anyhow?) and more McCain attacks. The Pundit for All Occasions actually made an effort in spots to be even-handed. No doubt Howie is filling the Milbank spot, since Keithy's masters at Daily Kos have made it clear that they've had their fill of Dana. Geno was more to Oralmann's liking so Howie was quickly gonged, and Geno slid in his place.
SB_Mich:
How dare McCain try character bashing and playing under-handed politics? Who does he think he is? Keith "Minute Man" Olbermann?
Philly:
By Philly on July 31, 2008 8:26 PM
I love how Olby and Eugene Robinson claim that McCain is doing so horribly when the polls indicate otherwise. Poor pathetic libs. Olby just made a crass, tasteless comment (shocker!), saying that the McCain campaign is racist and eventually will claim that B. Hussein Obama is not black enough. Shameless and deplorable is correct.
And here go Olby and Paul Krugman spouting off about eeeevil oil companies and the Dems' opposition to "meaningless" offshore drilling. How out of step with the public can the moonbats get? Krugman is now saying the media is partially to blame for not covering the story correctly (read: spinning the story the way the libnuts want it to be told).
Funny how Olby and Chris Kofinis don't mention Sen. Bill Jefferson's corruption charges and his $90,000 in the freezer, and speaking of another Bill Jefferson, how the Clintons sank the Democratic party in the 90s. That will never be mentioned during the Hour of Spin.
olby sucks:
Olby Sucks on July 31, 2008 8:58 PM
Do the math... Zogby Poll: 74% Support Off-Shore Oil Drilling in U.S. Coastal Waters. Telephone survey finds 59% of likely voters favor drilling in ANWR.
Observer Dan:
KEITHS CREEPIEST MOMENT: His announcement that Luke Russert will be joining NBC to cover the upcoming conventions, focusing on the 'youth vote'. Memo to Luke; Give Peter Doocy a call.
Mike C: In the Media Matters Minute, Fat Ass attacked the following people for no good reason:
Worse: Some Australian gold prospector/insect exterminator. Sorry about this Keith guy, mate. He's been nothing but trouble for a few years now.
Worser: "Speaking of bugs" (the wannabe Mr. Segue strikes out), Brian Sussman, host of "The Suss-Man Show" on Talk Radio KSFO 560 AM in San Francisco (which is on at the very moment I type this). Picture of Sussman stolen from station's website. How dare he criticize, even in jest that gets taken out of context by blue blogs, the almighty Obama! And how dare he call this God "dude." "Got news for you, DUDE. Obama said he was a (looking at paper): 'proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world.' (Looking back up): And the last guy who said something like that, (back to paper): 'I speak today as both a citizen of the United States and of the world,' (back up): Ronald Reagan." Keithy grins and laughs as he says, "Cool, a conservative too stupid to realize he just called Reagan the antichrist...(bellowing): DUDE." The sophomoric staff laughs.
Vice President Cheney: Merkle cites Seymour Hirsch. Oh, no. Cheney wants to provoke a war with Iran. Nobody wants to provoke anything. We're trying desperately to avoid that happening. I'm saying this is Mike C. A war with Iran would turn 60% of the world against us, and of course, Israel. I don't want that. But if all options had been exhausted and we had no choice, do it. Okay, enough about what I think about world news. Back to Olbermoronn. With an evil smirk, Edward R. Olbermann shifts around in his chair and says, "Can you see this happening in Cheney's office? Sure, you can. Can you Cheney getting all worked up and almost smiling? Sure, you can. Can you see where they get to the part about Americans being killed and you can't do that and just...stares at them all and says...'So?'" Then, came that ending flourish.
Could you see Ed Murrow doing that? Eric Sevareid? Robert Trout? John Chancellor? David Brinkley? Of course not! If Keith Olbermann is an anchor or a journalist, then so is Mike Malloy. I was going to say Howard Stern, but I think Howard has more class than Herr Olbermahn. I could be wrong.
Katy Turic:
Paul Krugman and Olby bash drilling
Two trillion barrels aren't worth filling?
Would last hundreds of years
No dependency fears
But the moonbats simply aren't willing
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 816th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, July 31 2008.
Welcome to You Write the Recap 2.0. This is a special thread for you to post your comments on the night's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, non-barking dogs...the works. Watch the first showing, or the repeat. Or view the videos at the Countdown website.
We'll go through the comments, organize them, and they will form the nucleus of our official OlbyWatch Recap. That will be posted separately, later tonight, for maximum visibility and impact. We'll credit all the commenters for their contributions, and may toss a few opinions of our own into the mix. But we're busy with a lot of stuff tonight, so we need you to pitch in and document the shameless actions of the infamous, deplorable Keith "Man on Fan" Olbermann.
Here is your chance to be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open! Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and watch for it to appear later tonight in the official OlbyWatch Recap.
It's getting harder and harder to take Keith Oralmann seriously. Just when you think he can't possibly out-do his previous gaffes, tonight he raised the bar. He accomplished the impossible: he surpassed himself. It's Olbypocrisy that goes way beyond '11'.
J$:
We'll summarize quickly here so as to get to Herr Olbermann's ginormous attack of self-unaware hypocrisy as soon as possible. #5 was ten minutes of feigned outrage because McCain used Britney Spears in an ad. Olbermann's Brain returned to chortle (it's good to know Floyd the Barber has found work), Comedian Rachel Madcow, tonight playing a political strategist, piled on. #4 was another appearance by that renowned expert on American politics: The (Limey) Wolffe Man. When Keith wasn't formulating the Longest Run-On Questions in the World, The Beaver chewed the scenery in #3, while the supposed-to-be-funny jokes about Dan Quayle in #1 didn't even raise a chuckle from The Laughing Stagehand.
There was the obligatory attack on Fixed News [Ding!] for a mistaken Obama/Osama banner (leaving out, of course, the on-air apology). They should be fired! But what about MSNBC? Keithy has always protected his corporate masters--there have been at least three dogs that have yet to bark. Yeah, that's Olbypocrisy, but this blows that out of the water...
SB_Mich:
Classic. In WPitW segment, the MinuteMan named O`Rielly the 2nd Worse person in the world because Bill doesn't want to pay more taxes. This from a person who has tax agencies across the country trying to catch up to him for his tax fraud.
J$: [Ding! Ding! Ding!] We definitely have a winner here. Quoting from Bathtub Boy:
OLBERMANN: What Dollar Billo is not telling you, and I as another member of that 1% of Americans who paid an astounding 40% of all federal income tax in 2006 will tell you, is that we made 22% of all income in 2006. That is believed to be the largest percentage since 1929. And still the average tax burden for the top 1% was at its lowest level in at least 18 years.... So remember vote for John McCain, because Bill O'Reilly thinks he pays too much in taxes.
Oh man, this is just too easy. Hey Keith, if you don't think taxes are too high, then maybe you'll get around to dealing with these:
Keith Olbermann, Biggest Hypocrite in the Woooorrrrrrrrrld!
Katy Turic:
From his desk on his fat pompous ass
Krazy Keith has no ethics or class
From his lies and spit-spews
To "Bill-O" and "Fixed News"
Keith appeals to the unshaven crass
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 815th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to our OlbyWatch recappers recapper who contributed!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, July 30 2008.
Welcome to You Write the Recap 2.0. This is a special thread for you to post your comments on the night's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, non-barking dogs...the works. Watch the first showing, or the repeat. Or view the videos at the Countdown website.
We'll go through the comments, organize them, and they will form the nucleus of our official OlbyWatch Recap. That will be posted separately, later tonight, for maximum visibility and impact. We'll credit all the commenters for their contributions, and may toss a few opinions of our own into the mix.
Here is your chance to be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Comments are open! Post your analysis of tonight's Hour of Spin here, and watch for it to appear later tonight in the official OlbyWatch Recap.
The opening spiel revealed just how desperate the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann was. Not "we were wrong, O'Reilly didn't get talking points". Not "Scott McClellan apologizes and takes it back". No it was another O'Reilly "meltdown". Never admit you're wrong, just divert attention with a new sleazy attack. Life on OlbyPlanet.
J$:
Things started out a little rocky for Krazy Legs Olbermann. The Pundit for All Occasions made some pretenses to being even-handed, and went out on a limb: BHO's VP will be Kaine, Bayh, or Biden. One of those three. No one else is under consideration. He's a little more reliable than David Shuster, but shouldn't Merkle have learned by now not to put so much faith in these dogmatic predictions (like the one that closes each recap that we do)?
ktt:
Howard Fineman is allowed to share breathing room with KO. This surprises me because last night on Hardball he had this to say about Obama:
FINEMAN: Well, I--having observed Obama and covered him now for quite some time--I mean, I've been up close to him a lot, not as much as some, but enough to know that he gets his back up when he's cross-examined or criticized. He does. He has a...
BARNICLE: That's not a very positive thing to note about a candidate. (LAUGHTER)
FINEMAN: No, no. He has--he has a little bit of an arrogant streak in him. He does. It's something he has to watch. It's something that's the flip side of the tremendous self-confidence he has. Here's a guy who was in the Illinois legislature four years ago, who's now going around meeting heads of state on a pretty emotionally and politically equal level. So he's got to have a lot of self-confidence. Sometimes he overdoes it.
Olbermann must not have heard HF dissing his guy. Look what happened to Craig Crawford for doing that - he was sent off OlbyPlanet.
Mike C:
#4: The "Countdown" Sen. Ted Stevens indictment victory party. (My title for it; not really billed as such.) Not worth recapping.
Observer Dan:
KEITHS CREEPIEST MOMENT: The joy he seemed to experience when he got to say " Jesus Christ on a Cheeto, twice.
Mike C:
#3: An entire segment devoted to the O'Reilly-McClellan showdown on "The Radio Factor" this afternoon. Oralmann set up the clip by using "an old analogy" from "Casablanca." Upper-right graphic: "Falafel [ding!] Guy Fatwa." Image of Bill with a big head on a small body. [Horrors! Photoshopping! --J$] McClellan's "No Duh" announcement that Fox News gets White House talking points. Fat Ass emphasized the "t" on "tuh-alking points." Billo the Clown! [ding!] Bottom screen graphic: "Billo [ding!] The Bully." Olbermoronn continues to laud Scott as some kind of hero. Billo! [ding!]
Hysterical Ted Baxter voice used while reading Media Matters (I assume) transcript of our humble correspondent. Wait a minute. This is from yesterday. "Mick-a-lellin." I knew BOR would be mocked for that stumble eventually. "'Kay?" Billo! [ding!] OlbyMock ad-lib: "His stupid rotten, old book!" Billo! [ding!] Fox Noise [ding!] morning show! Will he show the clip from what we otherwise know as "Fox and Friends"? Nope. More Baxter dramatics. Billo! [ding!] How dare he lump MSNBC in with NBC News! You're dragging the damn thing down, Krazy Legs!
"Finally, today, Scott McClellan went on O'Raily's (stumbled on O'Reilly's) radio show to expand on his written statement that he never mentioned O'Reilly specifically, just Fox, and that he was sticking with what he said to Chris Matthews." And finally, we get to the showdown. Big evil O'Reilly head on small body [Horrors! More photoshopping! --J$] on left said of the screen, flattering candid McClellan shot on the right, "Radio Factor" logo and mic in the middle. Pause in clip for Keithy snark in Baxter voice: "And give me a big kiss." Normal voice: "But when Scott tried to get an apology for himself, he learned a valuable lesson: uh, Billo [ding!] never apologizes." He grinned as he said that. Apex of interview played. After the clip, KeithO the Klown says, "If we're partners, Scott owes me MONEY!"
Geno Robinson laughs. Oh, no. Not him. Yep. Bottom graphic: "Billo [ding!] Buster." Robinson says, "Good to be here, Keith. I think he owes me a little, too." I'd like some combat pay myself for having to recap this crap. Edward R. Olbermann chuckles, "If we made a deal with McClellan, we made a bad deal." Billo [ding!] made this all about him. Fox Noise machines! [ding!] [ding!] Okay, forget it. There's 4:30 left on this segment and I'm skipping to the end of it. I've put up with all I can take. At the 8:16 mark, Robinson: Bombast! Konspiracy theory about Vice President of Fox taking the talking points, making his own, and sending them out to everyone in the news organization. "We've seen copies of it." And we mercifully come to an end with: "Anyway, (sigh), all right, we'll leave it alone here. Uh, Gene Robinson, MSNBC and 'The Washington Post.' Thank you, Gene." "Good to talk to you, Keith." And after typing that, I lowered my head to the keyboard.
J$:
Oralmann was careful only to play the parts of McClellan's apology that he wanted to. He left out the key part where McClellan specifically says O'Reilly never got talking points. Luckily you can enjoy the entire interview here.
Mike C:
Media Matters Minute flash recap: L. Robert Kimball and associates, NYPD cop that shoved a bicyclist off his bike. Charles Krauthammer. Or, as I'm used to hearing it whenever I'm watching a Brit-hosted "Special Report," "and the syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. Fox News Contributors all." The video cut out midway through, but I could see Charles in the preview thumbnail.
Katy Turic:
Krazy Keith has been seeing a shrink
But his doc's advice must really stink
Keith's mental state:
Bellevue's full but they'll wait
Insanity? Keith's on the brink
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 814th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to all our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
This is the recappers' comment thread for Countdown, July 29 2008.
Welcome to You Write the Recap 2.0. This is a special thread for you to post your comments on the night's Hour of Spin. Note everything salient: smears, distortions, bias, lies, non-barking dogs...the works. Watch the first showing, or the repeat. Or view the videos at the Countdown website.
We'll go through the comments, organize them, and they will form the nucleus of our official OlbyWatch Recap. That will be posted separately, later tonight, for maximum visibility and impact. We'll credit all the commenters for their contributions, and may toss a few opinions of our own into the mix.
Things to watch for tonight: Just look at the post below this one. Bathtub Boy has quite a mess on his hands. Does he just ignore McClellan's retraction and apology to O'Reilly? Does Keith distract with a new attack on Mr Bill? Or maybe on McClellan? As always, anything is possible on OlbyPlanet. Well, not anything. We won't be seeing Keith apologizing to Bill any time soon, even though McClellan did.
Here is your chance to be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Post your criticism or praise for Krazy Keith here, and watch for it to appear later tonight in the official OlbyWatch Recap. Comments are open!
Keith Olbermann was in hog heaven last Friday. He cackled with glee (inappropriately blended with feigned outrage) over Scott McClellan's claim that the White House fed talking points to Sean Hannity and particularly Bill O'Reilly:
OLBERMANN: The Bush White House routinely sent, and as far as we know, still sends literal talking points to FOX News for its primetime propagandas. Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and the others spout...
The line is between appropriate communications there and how the O'Reillys and Hannitys and friends and the White House, in this case, cross that line...
Only problem? It isn't true, at least as far as Bill O'Reilly is concerned. But don't take our world for it. Take the word of Scott McClellan himself:
McCLELLAN: We sent out a lot of talking points to a lot of people. And certainly there were people that--pundits and commentators--
O'REILLY: But not me.
McCLELLAN: Other people that--
O'REILLY: Other people I don't care about, Scott.
McCLELLAN: I know--that were friendly and were sympathetic to us.
O'REILLY: Fine, then you deal with them as you want to. But I never received the talking points, correct?
McCLELLAN: I never said you did...
O'REILLY: Getting them talking points, Sean and Bill.
McCLELLAN: But there were people, there were people. Not you. Not you. But there were people.
Flashback to our Friday night recap, where we didn't question anything McClellan said, except for one thing:
In other words, they were talking about two hosts (one if you don't include O'Reilly, who is a most unlikely recipient) out of the entire Fox lineup.
Note that Olbermann claimed he talked to McClellan on Friday, but didn't put him on the air. Did McClellan also tell Olby that O'Reilly never got talking points? Did Oralmann go ahead with his on-air smear knowing that he was lying yet again? What happens tonight? Does Herr Olbermann pretend like this news never happened? Does he launch a new attack on O'Reilly to distract from his embarrassment? Anything is possible on OlbyPlanet.
Be that as it may, you read the truth first right here at OlbyWatch, mere minutes after The Hour of Spin concluded. And it has been confirmed by none other than Keith Olbermann's own source! Ah, the beauty of it all.
You can hear O'Reilly's entire interview with Scott McClellan here.
Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann - July 28 2008 OlbyWatch Recap
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics:
McCAIN IS A LIAR WHO HATES THE TROOPS
BUSH AND GONZALEZ ARE CRIMINALS
KEITH IS A DEMENTED HAM
Guests:
Rachel Maddow, Err America
Richard Wolffe, UK Student Exchange Program
Jonathan Turley, Professional Alarmist
You couldn't beat this opening spiel with a stick. Just moments before calling the McCain campaign "liars", Herr Olbermann himself spewed that Obama's visit to the troops was "cancelled by the Pentagon"! Say what? Even Obama isn't making that claim! Never fear. Keith reversed himself and said the opposite before he even got to the first commercial break. But which one is true? For our purposes it doesn't matter, because one of them is Another Olbermann Lie.
Philly:
Meltdown regular Butchie Madcow [tonight playing a political scientist --J$] claims the media is "covering" for McCain. Olby calls the media sleazy for not criticizing McCain's ads. More left-wing propaganda and outright lies on the Hour of Spin.
MikeH:
The media IS covering for McCain.....If you don't believe it, explain the CBS "mistake" last week substuting the wrong answer for the right question?.....Explain his being given a pass on confusing Al Qeada with Iran?.....Explain his being given a pass when he said 'I didn't love my country until I was deprived of her company' while running Michelle Obama into the ground for saying virtually the same thing?.....Explain "Chechoslovakia".....Meanwhile Obama is being criticized for daring to look too presidential.
J$:
While you're asking McCain to explain Czechoslovakia, perhaps you could address the same question to Keith "Czechoslovakia" Olbermann!
Quads:
In the segment that featured Rachel Maddow, Olby Planet was in a complete counter-clockwise spin once again defying all physical aspects of reality and logic. It was almost as if Superman, Lois Lane and Great Caeser's ghost took off together from the Olbyplanet spin center and reversed the rotation of the earth. Maddow, clearly playing the role of Lois Lane, claimed that McCain was getting a pass from the media and that Obama was the one under constant scrutiny from the press. CrazyLegs nodded in agreement, but clearly had his mind was elsewhere as he now feels like (with Maddow) he is playing the role of Kris Kristopherson in "A Star is Born."
Great Thanks:
I like how Jimmy Legs had Obama's campaign advisor on (and not just any advisor, the Senior advisor!) to respond to McCain "attack" ads. I'm trying to remember if Olbermann had a McCain advisor on to respond to the lunatic ads that said McCain wanted the war to last 100 years. Probably not, since Keith himself lied that McCain wanted "our troops fighting and dying in Iraq for 50 or 100 years." [Naturally, we have updated The List! --J$]
J$:
I like how Oralmann turned to factcheck.org to back up his claims that McCain's ad "lied". How many of the problems that site found with pro-Obama ads has Bathtub Boy reported on The Hour of Spin. Here's a hint: Zero!
In the #3 segment (Olby and The Perfessor) we started the clock as soon as The Perfessor began to speak. How long would it take before he would claim there was some sort of federal crime? [Ding!] Less than two minutes!
Observer Dan:
1. Olby was far too tickled with himself when teasing the worst segment involving Rupert Murdoch and the funny pirate voice.
2. Olby was far too proud of himself when exclaiming he really wanted to use the 'F' word when telling W to shut the hell up.
These behaviors remind me of perhaps the same kind of glee Michael Jackson would get watching youngsters ride his merry-go-round. Creepy.
Quads:
In the Number 1 Story in the Countdown, the ever narcissistic Olby showed a way-too- long clip of his alleged acting talents on a segment titled Ham Chowder. Olby, appearing to be playing the role of Falstaff in a dark comedy, was clearly looking for an opportunity display his acting wares in the hope of hosting SNL before Karl "Dancing Machine" Rove. The noises heard in the studio this time were not of the stagehands laughing on cue, but rather SNL's Lorne Michael's barfing into a nearby trash can.
Mike C:
In the Media Matters Minute, Rupert Murdoch...again! It's like a broken record. This time, it's regarding Fox Business Network. Olbermahn gleefully reported FBN's low ratings. He should thank Cablevision for that. They're in no hurry to add the channel to its lineup. And don't they have a partnership with MSNBC? Still, I'm grateful they added 15 HD channels today, including FNC HD. Back on OlbyPlanet, "most minor league baseball teams do much better than that." CNBC good, all things Fox bad. Next.
Dick Morris. Unflattering vidcap. Mock impression. Normal voice for unnamed person asking interview questions. (sarcasm, smirk): "Sure, great. Unleash a massive, possibly nuclear Middle Eastern war just to keep the Republicans in power." Keith TV-14 Olbermann uses Morris' first name with anatomical implication. [ding!]
Lt. Col. Allen West, U.S. Army (Ret.), who is running for Congress in Florida. Yes, Jane Fonda Olbermann went after another serviceman. West turned down an interview with al Jazeera. Fat Ass giggled while explaining Sec. Chertoff and "some guy named John McCain" appeared for interviews on there. Confirmation, please. "We have no idea if Col. West has won any medals for paranoia." "Republican Florida Congressional Candidate Allen 'A TV Network Plans To Kidnap Me' West!" Keithy loves those troops, but only if they have a D next to their name, represent far-left causes, speak ill of the current administration, or turn against said administration. What a guy.
APPENDIX: LTC West's campaign website.
J$: Dogs That Did Not Bark:
Keith continues to prove what a conceited, dishonest pseudo-journalist he is, refusing to correct or apologize for his Wednesday lie about Bill O'Reilly. For that matter, we're still waiting for a correction to yet another factually inaccurate smear: his Thursday claim that Duncan Hunter (an R, natch) wanted to go out and slaughter "endangered animals", i.e. wildebeests. The wildebeest, also known as the gnu, is not--as any first-year zoology student knows--endangered. Not anywhere in the world. Another example of "Man on Fan" Olbermann ratcheting up the rhetoric with a lie to concoct a smear against--surprise!--a Republican. Also while he was insulting Rupert Murdoch tonight, it was interesting to note how careful Keithy was to avoid mentioning that FBN ratings today are on a par with what FNC was doing at this point in its history. That's Too Much Information on OlbyPlanet.
Katy Turic:
Once again Olby toots his own horn
The most self-centered hack ever born
Olby's Soup cameo
"News" anchor... new low
Compared to Murrow, Keith is just porn
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 813th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Great thanks to all our OlbyWatch recappers who contributed!
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith "Czechoslovakia" Olbermann? Comedian Rachel Madcow?
Topics/Guests: TBA
It's another thrill-packed edition of You Write the Recap! Comments are open, as before. And we invite all our clear-headed readers to watch the program and post their comments to each segment. Later we'll check out the comments, and the best, most insightful, funniest etc will be included in the main post, with full credit to the commenters responsible.
Watch for how--or if--the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will address Wednesday's smear of Bill O'Reilly. Of course on Thursday he made no apology or correction, which is certainly consistent with a long string of Olbermann lies about Fox. But maybe tonight will be different. Update: no it won't.... Instead, he mounted a hysterical new attack on Fox, one of Merkle's most tendentious and propagandistic rants ever.
The big deal tonight was a new attack on Fox using an old line ("talking points from the White House") [video below]. To accomplish this, Bathtub Boy used a McClellan interview on Hardball. In that clip, McClellan told The Drooler that they would sometimes forward information to friendly pundits at Fox. Note: as far as Oralmann was concerned, the clip stopped there. But Scott actually said much more. He added that this is something that both sides do, and when questioned further by The Drooler, McClellan said something so outrageous that Keithy had to pretend he didn't even hear it. Scott said that the reporters and journalists on Fox were professionals who played it right down the middle (Brit Hume was one example) and were therefore not contacted with info. That was reserved for the "nighttime guys", ones who might agree with White House positions. In other words, they were talking about two hosts (one if you don't include O'Reilly, who is a most unlikely recipient) out of the entire Fox lineup. At most 90 minutes out of the broadcast day. Keep that in mind as you read how Krazy Keith conflated this into the worst disaster since the Plague.
Herr Olbermann took one sentence from this McClellan/Matthews interchange and expanded it into a ringing indictment of all of Fox News, and of course Rachel Madcow played right along. Krazy Legs and Madcow's sweeping indictment conveniently made no mention of the very limited nature of McClellan's statements (which he himself had no personal knowledge of by the way), and neatly avoided McClellan's words of praise for the professionalism of Fox News reporters and journalists. Details, details. They pretended that Hannity and O'Reilly (poor Alan Colmes didn't even get a mention) anchor Fox News 24/7. Neocons! Murdoch! The constitution! Clips of Hannity and O'Reilly on an endless loop! It was classic propaganda from the Leni Riefenstahl of the airwaves. All this from the startling revelation that Sean Hannity gets Republican talking points. Whoda thunk it? --J$
OMG, it's tax cheat Bob Wexler, the Fire Breathing Liberal, throwing accusations at President Bush. Where do you live again, Bob? With your mother-in-law? LOL. Olby asks Bob Barr if the Constitution is "gone". What a drama queen. Barr does not fall for the moonbat bait. Bob Barr must be desperate for air time if he shows up on the Hour of Spin. --Philly
Keith tries to spin BHO's failed attempt to USE the brave battle injured men and women of our Armed Forces for a photo op. Any other NON-self-absorbed candidate, when told to leave the reporters and campaign staff at home would have said...."K" and gone to visit the troops anyway....This gets filed under pathetic.
A second day of cheese jokes? Really? Either get some new writers, or do what you do best and stick to the teleprompter.
Did anybody else notice that Sarkozy practically had to drag BHO away from the cameras and press? Methinks Barak has been spending too much time with Chuck Schumer.
Bob Barr shows up on Countdown? Ohhhh, how the sublimely mediocre have fallen. And by the way, KO repeated the assertion that Nader would take votes away from McCain in the general election. Just how many stories up are the COUNTDOWN studios anyway?
KO on how the Germans love BHO, and that would be so nice. Funny how you've excoriated our current president for being a guy American's would like to have a beer with....but tonight we learn that you would prefer a president that Europeans would like to have a beer and a brat with. Oh yeah, so much better.
A famously liberal slanted magazine has you as the second best beach buddy to Chris "Chills and Thrills" Mathews....WOW, what a shocker. -Jim M
In the Media Matters Minute, KeithO the Klown not only went after the evil O'Reilly, but his fill-in host, as well. We begin with Worse: Rupert Murdoch: Andrew Klavan of "The Wall Street Journal" is a " conservative mystery writer." Quote from Klavan's review of "The Dark Knight" read in Australian pirate voice. After that, with a snarky smirk, Fat Ass said: "Seriously, the only thing Batman and George W. Bush have in common is that some time late in their teens, they started dressing up in...cheerleader-style costumes and then jumped around a lot."
David Asman: "David Ass-man of Fixed News [ding!]." More class exhibited by Keith TV-14 Olbermann. "The unfortunately named sup-ho-bo-ho, ho-host (sub-host is what he was going for) said quote...of Obama's speech...or, uh, rather he said of Obama..." As Chris Berman, Keithy's not-friend from Cornell, would say, "rumblin', bumblin', stumblin'." No impression used for the man whose last name is actually pronounced "Az-min." Merkle went on to use a lead-in rhetorical question as if it were David's opinion. Then, as if any of his targets, actually listen to him, he says, "Well, obviously, it is, because who would want the other countries of the world to like us again? I hate to spoil the fun, but we are not at war with the entire damned world, boys!"
Bill O'Reilly and Laura Ingraham: "Pumping up the paranoia, Billo the Clown [ding the ding!] and sidekick [ding!] Laura Ingraham." This is based on last night's Top Story segment on "The Factor," a night where the show clobbered Olbsessor 524K to 367K. Not even the Weekdays with Bernie & Jane segment discussing Katy Perry's girl kiss video/song hampered the numbers. Anyway, hysterical Ted Baxter voice used quoting from Mr. Bill's Talking Points Memo. Mimicky elderly New York woman-sounding voice used for Miss Laura. "And the Clown [the ding!] added," back to Baxter. Edward R. Olbermann gets serious: "I'll repeat what I said last week. The crap you guys at Fox used to make up, when you were as Scott McClellan described you tonight (he was on?!), Bush's means of disseminating his talking points, your junk used to be creative. And occasionally, plausible. (slowly): Now, it just sounds like you're all stoned! We torture people! (normal pace again): The CIA has admitted to waterboarding! We torture people!" Yeah, three times in seven years, as a last resort, Olbermoronn! "It's no stereotype, though it *is* hateful! In your name, O'Reilly! In your name, Ingraham! Torture! Done in your names! The same way the terrorists do it! Billo the Clown [ding the ding!] and Laura Ingraham!" And you know the last line, unfortunately, by heart, though pluralized tonight. It's hard to take a man seriously when he has monster movie music playing under him.
Until today, I could easily run over to RedLasso and whip up a clip of the Top Story segment from last night and the clip of David Asman on "Your World" from yesterday (I assume). But Keithy's corporate masters and his archenemies jointly scared the living daylights out of that site and they have shut it down for civilian bloggers like Johnny and myself. So, I can give you all that FOXNews.com has from yesterday: the Talking Points Memo. --Mike C
Summary, by Katy Turic:
Krazy Keith or Maddow's the question
Either one will cause indigestion
They've morphed into one
Like a bad human pun
On Countdown there's moonbat congestion
It's another thrill-packed edition of You Write the Recap! Comments are open, as before. And we invite all our clear-headed readers to watch the program and post their comments to each segment. After the repeat showing of Countdown we'll check out the comments, and the best, most insightful, funniest etc will be included in the main post, with full credit to the commenters responsible.
Of course a key element to watch for is just how--or if--the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann will address his smear of Bill O'Reilly. It was first reported right here at Olbermann Watch yesterday. Further details on how Oralmann smeared O'Reilly with a false blue blog story hit the web last night. Since then, news of Bathtub Boy's perfidy has spread, including important reports from Inside Cable News and TV Newser. So Herr Olbermann's unprofessional smear tactics have been exposed for all to see. Will he swallow his considerable pride and deliver an apology to Mr Bill tonight? Will he slip in a correction camouflaged by another fusillade of attacks? Or will he follow OlbyPlanet protocol and admit nothing, correct nothing, and let his lies stand?
You write the recap! Post your comments on the show and then watch for them to appear as part of the official Olbermann Watch recap! It's your chance to be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss.
The results are (mostly) in (we're waiting for Katy Turic's summary). Following the recap an exclusive OlbyWatch video...
It appeared the pressure was grinding down on Olby tonight. Yesterday the obvious castigating by Joe Scarb. Today Olby being called out big time for the Bill O'Reilly Lie. Was Olby contrite? Did he apologize for his despicable, lazy lie? No on both counts.
He came out swinging at McCain with a fervor that bordered on hysterical. " McCain speaking 'gibberish'. The Bellowing Klown was appalled that John McCaing had a creme puff with lunch. Geno Robinson had trouble keeping up with the hyperbole. Two nights in row the question " Will McCain even make it to the nomination?" Two nights in a row, the answer was " um, yes." Keith might just ask it again tomorrow night.
O'Reilly made it to the Media Matters Minute, sans correction. All and all, it was an ugly, hate-filled hour of spin. --Observer Dan
I saw the "winners" of WPitW. Ben Stein was Worse, Rep. Duncan Hunter was Worst, and guess who was Worser? .........O'Reilly, of course. KeithO the Klown dismissed the notion of NBC offering BOR a ton of money to work for them earlier this decade and found irony in him appearing on "Today" ten times this decade despite (MS)NBC attacking him every day. But whatever. --Mike C
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
McCAIN IS A SENILE LIAR: Chris Hayes, The Nation; Rachel Maddow, Err America; Dana Milbank
OBAMA SURGES AHEAD IN POLL THAT SHOWS THE RACE UNCHANGED: Chuck Todd
KNEE-SLAPPING COMEDY: Harry Shearer
We picked a great night to return to recapping. Olbermann flat-out lies about Bill O'Reilly, changing a conversation around 180 degrees just to smear his more successful opponent. Don't believe us? We have the video proof! But first, the opening spiel: Nightly McCain attack, rehash of yesterday's "breaking news" by someone "too stupid to be on TV", Billo [Ding!], Hagee [Ding!], and HuffPo's Harry Shearer. Yeah it's great to be back doing Oralmann recaps again. Not.
#5: You guessed it, flogging yesterday's McCain "gaffe" yet again. And sure enough, somehow it's still "BREAKING NEWS!". Olby and Hayes, two far-left has-beens, batted back and forth about how stupid and ignorant and dishonest John McCain is. It's so much fun to denigrate a P.O.W. and a veteran. If this were 1974, Bathtub Boy would be Jane Fonda. Keith "Czechoslovakia" Olbermann even suggested McCain's campaign was "cracking up" and wouldn't last until the election.
Right-wingers! [Ding!] Next up was comedian Madcow, tonight playing a journalism critic. They agreed that, as everyone knows, the media is biased against Democrats, while Madcow proclaimed her journalistic skills superior to those of CBS News.
After a Billo [Ding!] and a Hagee [Ding!] came #4: More attacks on a P.O.W.! Graphic: "McShame". You know what this is: more outrageous/wrong/senile/stupid things said by McCain. But Obama must be more than a man. He must be a god. Because on OlbyPlanet you won't see segments like this about Barack Obama. It's, like, because, you know, the media are biased against the Democrats. Dana Milbank, minus mental capacity, nattered.
After Hagee [Ding!] and Hagee [Ding!], came #3: Obama up in the polls. (You'll recall that Countdown spiked the Newsweek poll that showed an Obama drop; now they're hyping a poll that shows Obama unchanged!) Hot Toddy sullied his reputation again by associating himself with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann.
After a Billo [Ding!] and Fixed News [Ding!] came #2: plug for #1. #1: Yucks with HuffPo's Harry Shearer. Pass. Media Matters Minute: Billo [Ding!] for attacking the "innocent" Rep Wexler. Billo! [Ding!] Note that for this segment Keith had to lie, claiming:
The Frank Burns of News then speculated that Wexler was somehow trying to cheat Florida out of income tax. Fund had to inform him that Florida doesn't have an income tax. "No income tax? This is where my argument falls to the ground!"
First, here's the video:
Now, the one problem: that never happened! O'Reilly never said Wexler was trying to cheat Floriday out of income tax. And Fund didn't inform him of that, because it was O'Reilly who brought it up. Here's the actual conversation:
O'REILLY: You say it's legal. You can do that, based upon how he set it up. Now, taxes. Doesn't he have to pay taxes in both states if he has dual residency there?
FUND: Members of Congress can choose to pay taxes either in the Washington area or in their home state.
O'REILLY: OK so they have the choice. So he would pay it in Florida because Florida doesn't have a state tax. And Maryland taxes like crazy.
FUND: And you have just identified one of the big reasons he has to have this phantom residence, because that enables him to pay no state income tax.
So Olbermann lied just to smear Bill O'Reilly. But don't take our word for it. View the segment video yourself:
Why does Olbermann do this? Because he lifts his "stories" from far-left blue blogs that lie about O'Reilly, and either doesn't check or doesn't care if what they say is true or not. In this case, as the video shows, it was an obvious lie, but Keith doesn't care. Because he's a slovenly political hack, and if he can slander O'Reilly, what's one more Olbermann Lie anyhow?
Now, we ask you, will Keith Olbermann correct this lie tomorrow? Will he apologize to Bill O'Reilly for smearing him with something he clearly did not say? Will he apologize to his viewers for lifting a story from an unreliable source and not even looking at the video to check it out? What kind of an incompetent cretin doesn't even check the video before reporting? Why don't you ask those questions here?
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 807th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Scarborough: Olbermann Is "Too Stupid to Be on TV!"
Morning Joe is coming out of his shell. It's pretty clear who's he talking about, and we at Olbermann Watch salute him. Luckily for Joe, he is shielded from being named a "worst person" thanks to Bathtub Boy's MSNBC exemption. We have the video (from johnny dollar's place) for your viewing pleasure:
Fact Czeching the Infamous, Deplorable Keith Olbermann
Only on OlbyPlanet would self-delusion this egregious go unchecked. Last week on The Hour of Spin, Brit Richard Wolffe simpered about John McCain's Czechoslovakia talk:
WOLFFE: Well, I actually think the wackiest thing was the many references to Czechoslovakia that McCain has been using in recent days. That country hasn't existed for 15 years.
Tonight, Keith Oralmann was at it again, parroting The Wolffe Man and gleefully twisting the knife:
OLBERMANN: Senator John "Czechslovakia" McCain at a Town Hall in New Hampshire today, catching himself for once again citing the name of an Iron Curtain country that has not existed for 15 years.
Um, Keithy? Bathtub Boy? Do you really want to be ridiculing someone for that? At least McCain caught himself. What's your excuse?
OLBERMANN [11/8/2005]: Let's play Oddball....To Prague in Czechoslovakia, where the country's newest reality show...
OLBERMANN [3/22/2004]: Here are Countdown's "Top 3 Newsmakers" of this day: No. 3: Three 14-year-old school boys in Czechoslovakia...
OLBERMANN [4/12/2004]: Let's play "Oddball." In Poland, they throw water on each other in the festival of Schvingus Gingus (ph); In Czechoslovakia, they celebrate with an Easter Birching...
Keith "Czechoslovakia" Olbermann: poster boy for the arrogance of ignorance.
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests: TBA
It's another thrill-packed edition of You Write the Recap! We invite all our clear-headed readers to watch the program and post their comments to each segment. Point out any lies you catch, any Oralmann blunders, examples of sock-puppetry, unfair attacks, non-barking dogs...the usual stuff from Monkeymann and Company. After the repeat showing of Countdown we'll check out the comments, and the best, most insightful, funniest etc will be included in the main post, with full credit to the commenters responsible. And with that, tonight's write-up, plus a bonus, Olbermann Watch exclusive behind-the-scenes video!
Tonight, the Hour of Spin emanated from Los Angeles. What, he couldn't do it there last night, too? I've noticed this for years, but Edward R. Olbermann looks like my friend Joey, and vice versa. Opening spiel not available on the "Countdown" website. So:
#5: McCain attack segment. Lower-third graphic reads "Breaking News: McCain Makes False Assertion Of Surge & Sunni Awakening Timeline". That's breaking news? Other unimportant breaking news at 8:00: there's heavy rain with rumbles of thunder over southern Nassau County. While that was an inconvenience that could have led to flash flooding, it was not noteworthy nationally, either. Fat Ass reads a transcript instead of playing "CBS Evening News" video. What else do you expect on OlbyPlanet? Geno (my personal nickname for Eugene) Robinson was the guest. I've barely watched this, only skipped through it. It's irrelevant anyway, but it's noteworthy to say Geno was told "Thanks for joining us. Have a good night." "Good to talk to you, Keith," said a grinning Robinson.
#4: More McCain attacks. Phil Gramm! [ding!] Graphic: "Gramm Of Prevention." Guest: Chris Kofinis, who, to be fair, has appeared on many the FNC program. Still, skip to the end. Oh, wait, another graphic: "Straight-Face Express." Now, we skip. Beep, bup, boop. Okay, at the end. Oralmann (sarcastically in first sentence): "Yeah, we need a financial pirate as Secretary of the Treasury. Uh, Chris Kofinis, Democratic Strategist, former Edwards Campaign Communications Director. Great Thanks for your time tonight, sir." "Thanks, Keith."
#3: President Bush "preemptively pardoning the criminals in his own administration for illegal torture..." Blah, blah, blah. Who's the guest? I don't know. The video won't load past 00:25. Hooray! I don't have to recap the rest of it!
#2: The Media Matters/Crooks and Liars/Think Progress/DailyKos/Genworth Financial Minute. (I made that last one up, but it's part of GE, although partially owned by the people.) Time once again for Herr Olbermahn to unfairly attack those he disagrees with. But first, a "preface." "I was praised in the media yesterday for not rising to some of Fox Noise's [ding's!] most recent fate. So, let me correct that. We have a Fixed News [ding!] trifecta tonight." Oh, no. The FNC victims were:
Bret Baier "and his producers": Unflattering freeze frame of Bret Baier teasing a segment on "America's Election HQ." How dare they misspell "education"? It's an outrage, I say! Well, at least Merkle says. Here's the segment where the unholy (not to sane people) mistake was made: You may find it interesting. The FOXNews.com Video title is "Quality Parenting." Subtitle: "Do tough economic times mean worse parenting?" No Democrats are blamed.
Bill O'Reilly: Three things are certain: death, taxes, and O'Reilly attacks by the Olbsessor. "Bill-O the Clown"! [ding the ding!] Unfair comparison to BillOReilly.com poll questions and the No Spin Poll at www.foxnews.com/oreilly. Talking Points Memo posted there if you come in late. Oops, sorry. I'm so used to hearing that, it just slipped out. Pardon me. Hystercial Ted Baxter voice used merely for reading poll questions on BOR site and "Factor" site. "You left out a couple of options there, Bub. Plus, I'm horrified to say that in the minds of the viewers of the Bill-O the Clown Show [ding the ding ding!], such as those minds are, (fake pouty voice and face): MSNBC is the second most biased outlet."
Bill O'Reilly again! Good golly, this man is Olbsessed! "Bill-O the Clown"! [ding the ding!] You knew this was coming. On the heels of BOR losing all respect for Al Gore for attending the Netroots Nation convention over the weekend, Keithy felt it best to use the hysterical voice again while quoting the first segment of Hour 2 of yesterday's "Radio Factor." Edward R. Olbermann playing serious: "Here's a buffoon [ding for the hell of it!] who works for Fox News, which took a photograph of Jacques Steinberg of 'The New York Times' and altered it to enlarge his nose and his ears. Actually copied the propaganda techniques of the 1930s." Oh, no, he's going that route. "And he's comparing anybody else on the planet to the Nazis?! Check out your bosses offices, Bill! And your mirror! (rightward head tilt): 'Kay?! Bill-O the Clown! [ding the ding!]" And you know the last line.
#1: Richard Lewis. No point in recapping it. As usual, I've wasted all my energy recapping that damn Media Matters Minute. --Mike C
Dogs that did not bark. Robert Wexler (D) Rep of Florida OOOPS!!! Did I say Florida? He lives in Maryland and claims his Mother-in-Law's house in Florida. Guess where he pays taxes?? Well that depends on which taxes are higher or lower. --The Factor
Summary, by Katy Turic:
NBC and their "Civil War" slant
Krazy Keith and his misguided rant
In Iraq's "Civil War"
Keith is Obama's whore
And his hair looks like James Traficant
Exclusive Olbermann Watch Bonus Video: Keithy and Rachel Madcow in a planning session for The Hour of Spin:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow
Topics/Guests: TBA
It's a blue Monday that brings us the return of Keith Olbermann. But we're tied up with an A/C installation. Unfortunately we'll be unable to handle the nightly summary of The Hour of Spin.
But all is not lost. You write the recap! Comments are open, as before. And we invite all our clear-headed readers to watch the program and post their comments to each segment. Point out any lies you catch, any Oralmann blunders, examples of sock-puppetry, unfair attacks...the usual stuff from Monkeymann and Company. After the repeat showing of Countdown we'll check out the comments, and the best, most insightful, funniest etc will be included in the main post, with full credit to the commenters responsible.
This really isYou write the recap!Your chance to be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. The results:
Tonights broadcast left me wondering where the hell is Merkle really at? 3 to 5 second delay in the conversations means Olby is most likely in a Foreign land. Which one? Iraq? No way. Kuwait? Could be. That's where the Obama Tour Party began in earnest today, after having left Iraq. Any ideas? --Observer Dan
Olby's in LA tonight, no doubt frolicking with the Hollyweird crowd. With that background, I thought he was on the Magical Obama Tour. I'm sure he wants everyone to believe that he's brave enough to actually go into a war zone. Herr Olbytard is claiming that the Iraq government wholeheartedly supports B. Hussein Obama's war policy. And then he quotes al Maliki saying that he does not endorse Obama's position. The Olbyspin is dizzying.
It cracks me up to listen to Howie and Olby discuss the Iraqi government as if they were the Continental Congress. It's funny how the lads never discuss corruption or Sunni-Shia tensions. Now Howie claims that the success of the surge, which Obama opposed, is now working in Obama's favor as B. Hussein wants to focus more on Afghanistan. The air is thin on Olbyplanet. --SB_Mich
Malaki use to be Bush's puppet on Olby planet. Now he is George Washington. The equation for becoming a hero on Olby planet is pretty easy. Do something to help B. Hussein Obamanation get elected and you are a hero to Olbermann. --The Factor
Didn't (MS)NBC claim that Iraq was in a "Civil War" less than a year ago? But now it's time to leave because everything's ok? --merkle923
Look at Madcow - all dolled up again! Madcow is fawning over all Olby and complimenting his loaded questions. Looks as if Madcow really wants a gig on MSDNC. That's about a half-step up from Err America. (Is it still on the air?) She now takes over the Spinfest from FatAss, who says he's in LA so he can slobber all over TV critics during their confab. Herr Olbytard even poked fun at her makeup choices. Oh, that Olby! What a card. --Philly
No Media Matters Minute, no worthwhile O'Reilly attacks, no hysterical impressions, and no need for me to recap it. Snarky comebacks, however, are still in play. --Mike C
Summary, by Katy Turic:
Mister Maddow is on the attack
For losing viewers she has a knack
Where America erred
Bankruptcy. No one cared
Like Keith she can't fill in the crack
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests: TBA
It's casual Friday at Olbermann Watch, and we're assuming the infamous, deporable one will be sitting on the OlbyPlanet throne to pilot The Hour of Spin. We're trying something a little different tonight.
You write the recap! Comments are open, as before. And we invite all our clear-headed readers to watch the program and post their comments to each segment. Point out any lies you catch, any Oralmann blunders, examples of sock-puppetry, unfair attacks...the usual stuff from Monkeymann and Company. Then we'll check out the comments, and the best, most insightful, funniest etc will be added to the main post, with full credit to the commenters responsible.
This really isYou write the recap!Your chance to be an Olbermann Watch blogger without all the muss and fuss. Our first reader-written recap follows:
It was quintessential life on Olbyplanet with EJ Dionne. It's almost like James Tiberious Kirk beaming down with Mr. Spock on Olbyplanet, and all Mr Spock can say is "Illogical Captain." In this segment, Olby actually tried to build a case that McCain was moving towards the Obama strategy in both Iraq and Afghanistan !! Huh? Tricorder reading Mr. Spock !! WTF is Olby trying to say? That McCain is moving towards an Obama strategy? Spock, Bones, Scotty. UHURA....Beam me up !!!
Then we had a "STOP the TIVO" Moment !! What was Krazy Keith saying when invoking the name of Ron Goldman and Time Horizon in his discussion with Dionne?? Is he pimping out another dead guy for a laugh??
In tonight's Buuuuuushed segment, if became clear the Olby "mails in" this section of the show courtesy of his leftist minions. Blind Faith being the key words here....Olby has clearly outsourced this segment to 1 or 2 intern resources where they clearly feed him the rip and read the headlines from the blue blogs. If you look at Crazy Legs carefully during this segment, you can easily tell that he is seeing this recycled leftist-dung for the 1st time as he spews it.....now first person....from the teleprompter. --Quads
I can only take a minute here and a minute there with Lazy Leg. The two segments I caught was the World Stopping Breaking News about Gramm quiting. Keithy basically took credit for it by saying, "exactly one month to the day in which we broke the news about Gramm's Enron ties . . . he was forced to step down."
Later in the program, Keithy named O`Rielly WPITW for taking credit for people driving less (therefore driving down gas prices.) Apparently, its wrong for a "journalist" to take credit for things happening (like driving down gas prices or forcing a Presidential co-chairman out.) Hypocrite! --SB_Mich
In the Media Matters Minute, BOR was Worser. Worst was Swift Boat veteran Bud Day. I'd rather talk about horse jockey Pat Day, or Doris Day. Worse was some airline passenger. Let's focus on the Olbsession.
"Bill-O the Clown!" [ding the ding!] O'Reilly "invented an imaginary publication" during the France boycott. "Bill-O"! [ding!] "The Frank Burns of news." [ding!] "Big league delusion of grandeur." Hysterical Ted Baxter voice used (that never gets old) reading quote of Mr. Bill in last night's Reality Check segment on "The Factor." Pouty snark followed: "Billy thinks people tune in every night for instructions! (laughing in background.) (smirk): Now, the problem you've created for yourself here, sir, is that now (grinning grit): if the price of a gallon of gas stays more or less the same, or it goes up, (finger point) it's your a**. (more laughing from staff.)" More suggestive dialogue from Keith TV-14 Olbermann. It's sad that the staff actually finds Monkeymann so amusing, and further sad that around a million total viewers (400,000-500,000 in the demo) feel the same way. And that was that. I don't care about the rest.
Unfortunately, I cannot link to video because FOXNews.com does not have it up. For now, folks, here's the BillOReilly.com summary of Reality Check. --Mike C
Summary, by Katy Turic:
Olby can't keep track of his lies
Dumb rebuttals cannot disguise
That his lies are bald faced
From his mouth solid waste
And false claims that logic defies
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
The infamous, deplorable one snuck back into town, but we weren't ready for him. We're unable to do our standard writeup tonight, so it's your turn. You write the recap! Comments are open. And don't spare the invective.
Controversy now swirls over Keith Olbermann's written statement (he didn't bother to interrupt his vacation with Katy to actually appear on camera) of condolences over the death of Tony Snow:
It might surprise many at all political points, but while we could not have disagreed more on policy, we were in frequent contact, even during his days as Press Secretary...
Oralmann first claimed he was Mr Snow's special friend in March, contending they emailed each other about baseball. But friends of Tony Snow beg to differ, as Page Six reported today:
The MSNBC blowhard...is now inventing a friendship with former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow.... But a true friend of Snow's says Olbermann had "no relationship with Tony, at all." In fact, Olbermann named Snow his "Worst Person in the World" on Jan. 9, 2007, accusing him of lying about President Bush's 2003 "mission accomplished" speech. Olbermann hissed, "You're just baldfaced lying. You were hired to lie . . . We're not all third-graders out here." A rep for Olbermann didn't get back to us.
Indeed, as the Olbermann Watch archives show, Herr Olbermann has excoriated Tony Snow repeatedly and enthusiastically, with insults like "Snow Job", comparing him to paid pundit Armstrong Williams, calling Tony a liar, and at one point suggesting that Mr Snow accused the American people of fostering terrorism!
Do you think that Keith, who didn't even bother to interrupt his time off, was really Tony Snow's best bud? Let his own words answer the question. Here, culled from the Olbermann Watch video vault, is Keith Olbermann's Tribute to Tony Snow:
Note: See here for a compilation of genuine tributes to and reminiscences of Tony Snow.
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Guest Host: The Doctor is in!
Topics:
McCain attack, Obama praise, the latest Newsweek poll... Oh wait, maybe not the latest Newsweek poll as it isn't quite as "newsworthy" on OlbyPlanet as last month's poll, which of course made headlines and was the top story on OlbyPlanet. We'll be lucky if the new poll even gets a mention.
Guests:
The usual gang of sock puppets who parrot whatever comedian Rachel Maddow believes. Even when the infamous, deplorable one is gone, it's still The Hour of Spin.
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Guest Host: The Doctor is in!
Topics:
McCain attack, Obama praise, McCain attack again, Oralmann football plug, and who knows what else!
Guests:
Who else? Dana Milbank (sans splashy suit), of course. Maybe The Wolffe Man, the Pundit for All Occasions, and a few more of the selected sock-puppets. At least it won't be comedian Rachel Maddow, unless she decides to do a split screen interview of herself. Let's hope not. That just might give Bathtub Boy ideas.
You write the recap! That is if you want to sit through sixty minutes of the fetching, alluring Dr Madcow reading a typical Herr Olbermahn script. Here's a tip: O'Reilly's back from vacation...
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Guest Host: The Doctor: comedian Rachel Maddow of Err America
Guests:
Select from the following: Jonathan Alter, Richard Wolffe, Howard Fineman, John Dean, Eugene Robinson, Michael Musto, some other lame "comedian"
Topics:
Select form the following: Obama is great, McCain attack, Fox News attack, Bush attack
Tonight: no Keith (yeah!) so you write the recap! Watch The Hour of Spin (if you can stomach it), and post your instant reactions to The Doctor's fair and balanced guest-hosting.
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
A new Special Education Komment!
Poor Keith has gotten so tangled up in FISA flip-flopping, and the blue blogs are barking at his feet to show even the merest modicum of integrity. So Krazy Legs has had to craft a new Special Education Komment to extricate himself from this morass. He has it all figured out for Senator Obama: an intricate, convoluted miasma of faulty logic and faultier assumptions that no serious Presidential candidate would touch with a ten-foot pole. And yet Oralmann thinks he can convince Barack Obama to embrace this Byzantine twisted-pretzel travesty! The air really is thin on OlbyPlanet.
The comments are open for your instant reactions to "Man on Fan" Olbermann's tangled logic and ginormous ego. But please, be kind. It is not nice to make fun of cretinous simpletons.
Exclusive: dramatic reading of tonight's Special Education Komment by the OlbyRobot:
We've seen Keith Olbermann ridiculed in the pages of the normally friendly GQ. And then there was all that distinctly negative coverage in HuffPo, first from Rachel Slkar and then from the editors who gave stories from the NY Postprominent play. Now the infamous, deplorable one's blue base is buckling even further.
When Glenn Greenwald calls out Oralmann for hypocrisy, you know times are tough on OlbyPlanet:
Now that Barack Obama supports a law that does the same thing -- and now that Obama justifies that support by claiming that this bill is necessary to keep us Safe from the Terrorists -- everything has changed. Last night, Olbermann invited Newsweek's Jonathan Alter onto his show to discuss Obama's support for the FISA and telecom amnesty bill (video of the segment is here). There wasn't a syllable uttered about "immunizing corporate criminals" or "textbook examples of Fascism" or the Third Reich....
Obviously, Jonathan Alter has no idea what he's saying, but nonetheless decrees that this bill -- now that Obama supports it -- restores the Fourth Amendment. Those are the Orwellian lengths to which people like Olbermann and Alter are apparently willing to go in order to offer their blind devotion to Barack Obama....
Olbermann mocks Congressional Democrats as being weak and complicit for failing to stand up to Bush lawbreaking; now that Obama does it, it's proof that Obama won't "cower." Grave warning on Olbermann's show that telecom amnesty and FISA revisions were hallmarks of Bush Fascism instantaneously transformed into a celebration that Obama, by supporting the same things, was leading a courageous, centrist crusade in defense of our Constitution.
There's more. Much more. Read the whole thing and ask yourself: which prominent leftist writer will be the next to throw Herr Olbermahn under the bus? [Ding!]
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
ELECTION 2008: Jonathan Alter, Chris Kofinis (D)
FISA WHINING: Felon and disbarred lawyer John Dean
McCLELLAN REHASH: Dana Milbank
Keith Olbermann barked the opening spiel: Obama ahead! 527s! Democrats cave on FISA! McClellan speaks! Lamar Smith (R) "sold out his country"! Rupert Murdoch attack! Oooh, a John Cusack interview! Maybe next week he'll get Brad Pitt! It's casual Friday on Olbermann Watch.
#5: Newsweek shows Obama up by 15. But what about all those other polls? Who cares, the only important one is the one that shows Obama up by 15. Obama still won't take public financing. There may not be any Republican 527s, but Oralmann said that doesn't mean there won't be any tomorrow. So there. Keith pimped out Lefty Alter who gave all the reasons why Obama will beat McCain.
What better opportunity to discuss all the Republican "smears" that might come, unless they don't. Olby pimped out Kofinis, John Edwards's guy, and of course a (D), which reminds us that it's always useful to check out The List. It was pure Democratic propaganda, but that's hardly worth noting since the entire Hour of Spin falls into that category. CK was, of course, Great Thanksed.
#4: Oh no, there was a FISA compromise. Keith pimped out his favorite felon, but hilariously as the criminal talked, several other people in the newsroom were yelling back and forth at each other. Since the legal opinion of a disbarred lawyer isn't worth squat, that's how much attention we'll pay to it.
After a promo for a smear of Chris Wallace and a Fox Noise [Ding!] came #3: Scott McClellan repeats what he said in his book and in over a dozen interviews. Oralmann pimped out Milbank to talk impeachment. We admit it, we skimmed through much of this. There's only so much of Fat Ass and his prissy pal one can take on a casual Friday.
#2: Plug for #1. #1: John Cusack attacks John McCain. In the Media Matters Minute, Bear turned his sights on John Bolton (Blue Blog Source: HuffPo), Chris Wallace--Fixed News! [Ding!]--and worst the NY Post again. All of a sudden Keithy decided to use total viewers instead of the 'key demo' to claim the Post writer's figure of 300,000 viewers was wrong. Of course, Olby added up several showings of total viewers to come up with a number. Since he regularly is beaten like a rug in total viewers by O'Reilly, you can count on the fact that he will never mention total viewers again.
As for the Chris Wallace bit, Herr Olbermann attempted to refute Chris Wallace, based on this report:
[Wallace] distanced himself from right-wing Fox shows hosted by Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity by calling them "opinion shows," and said that, unlike MSNBC's "fiery liberal, Keith Olbermann," O'Reilly and Hannity are never permitted to anchor newscasts.
Bear had said repeatedly that Wallace was talking about "election night". Obviously an Olbermann Lie. Then he added:
Of course Fox permits them to anchor newscasts. They let O'Reilly anchor on primary nights. They let Hannity & Colmes anchor on primary nights.
Why can't Keith Olbermann tell the truth? O'Reilly never anchored primary coverage. Neither did H&C. O'Reilly's program was aired on two of the primary nights, and it was separate from "America's Election HQ": the election returns broadcast.
So what does all this mean? Keith Olbermann just lied again.
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 29 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 12 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -82 [clay aiken limp].
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 774th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Clinton Supporter Tormented with Threats After Olbermann Attacked Her on Air
In his on-going effort to boost Barack Obama and slander John McCain, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann spares no one. Two days ago he launched a bitter personal attack on Paula Abeles--an attack that was such a stretch it even left The Pundit for All Occasions puzzled as to just how Oralmann could insinuate someone is a racist with so little to base it on:
OLBERMANN: Paulie Abeles, a self-proclaimed Clinton supporter now reaching out to the McCain campaign, going so far to organize a conference call with the presumptive Republican candidate. She is the same member of the Thomas Jefferson Family Association who led the attempt to keep African-American descendants of Mr. Jefferson's reputed slave mistress, Sally Hemings, from attending family reunions....
And we need to be very careful to be very circumspect and not conclude this of all or even a large percentage, maybe even a measurable percentage of Clinton supporters who now have gone to McCain. But at least might the case of this Paulie Abeles woman who we now know organized against letting Sally Hemings' descendents join the Jefferson family gatherings, does this begin to make a lot more sense than just some sort of knee-jerk reaction?
FINEMAN: Well, I'm not sure what you mean by making a lot more sense. What do you mean?
OLBERMANN: It would seem to me that--that it's an extraordinary coincidence that somebody who would have objected to the presence of the black descendants of Thomas Jefferson at the Jefferson family reunion, suddenly bolting the Democratic Party because her candidate did not get elected and going over to the Republicans. It would seem that these things are of a narrow vision. I'm not assuming racism here, but there seems to be a narrow vision of what is--what this country is in the 21st century.
No, he's not assuming racism. He only brings up a totally irrelevant incident from the far past regarding people related to Thomas Jefferson's black mistress, mentions that the mistress was African-American, then mentions again that her descendants are black (just in case you didn't get that the first two times), and sneers what an "extraordinary coincidence" it is that this woman now won't fall into line for Obama. The most repellent aspect here may not be Monkeymann's smear, but rather his phony, utterly unconvincing attempt to escape responsibility for his own words by tacking on a "Who, me?" coda that he thinks will innoculate him for his vile slur.
No, he's not assuming racism. Tell that to the people who have tormented Ms Abeles and her family with threats since Herr Olbermann spewed his smear. Perhaps her story will put a new light on Olbermoronn's legendary finger-pointing at Malkin, Coulter, and others for speech that he says "inspires" threats of violence. Is it time for Edward R Olbermann to name himself worst person?
Olbermann Watch is "a wonderful resource". We couldn't have said it better ourselves. John Gibson replays our Olbypocrisy montage, and we have the audio for your listening pleasure:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests: TBD
It's Open Thursday! You write the recap!
What sock puppets will he have on tonight? Will he once again exploit Tim Russert to smear another entry on the OlbyPlanet enemies list? The comments are open: you write the recap...
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
ELECTION 2008: Richard Wolffe, Chris Hayes, Margaret Carlson
McCAIN RAISED YOUR GAS PRICES: Edward R Olbermann
TRIBUTE TO TIM RUSSERT
The infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann bellowed the opening spiel: Obama takes the lead! McCain is using fear! Obama says families are off limits! High gas prices: McCain's fault! It's hump day at Olbermann Watch, and a day on which Bathtub Boy's preposterously un-self-aware hypocrisy reaches yet another new height.
#5: So taken with emotion was Olby over Tim Russert's funeral today that he couldn't help but do this edition of Countdown in tribute to Russert's fair, even-handed journalism. New polling shows Obama leading in swing states! Independents don't want Hillary on the ticket! Keithy pimped out his prissy pal The Wolffe Man, because after all he was a regular staple on Meet the Press. Wolffie simpered about Obama's "big numbers", added that every last economist disagrees with McCain's energy policy, and for that was Great Thanksed.
Next in Oralmann's sites was Rudy Giuliani. Biden (surprise!) disagrees with Rudy. Obama's shiny new security team unveiled, plus a committee of retired military. Keithy said GOP criticisms of Obama are "distortions", just like Russert always did. The public "ain't buyin' this stuff" (Republican arguments). He ridiculed Rudy's criticism of the Supreme Court, once again following in the footsteps of Tim Russert, who always ridiculed people he disagreed with. Monkeymann pimped out Hayes of the far-left Nation, because he too was always Tim Russert's go-to guy for impartial analysis: they're "tone-deaf"! Giuliani is "discredited"!
#4: This has to be quoted verbatim, since it is rich in Olbypocrisy and irony:
It's not an unreasonable request to ask that personal attacks against the wife of the candidate against the wife of the candidate as part of a misguided strategy to torpedo a political campaign be off limits.
Stop the tivo! Let's set The Wayback Machine for just a few weeks ago:
KEITH OLBERMANN: So Cindy, your husband is running a fully negative campaign. He's a flaming fraud. And if you think he's clean, so are you! Cindy McCain, today's "worst person in the world"!
Attacking the wife of a decorated POW as a "fraud". Again, carrying on the Russert tradition. You know he was always calling someone's wife a fraud. And then six weeks later pretending he didn't do it.
After another Pulitzer-worthy installment of "oddball" (presumably modeled after those hilarious "oddball" segments on Meet the Press) came #3: a "special report" on why high gas prices are John McCain's fault. Oh, and Phil Gramm too. In the tradition of Tim Russert's famous self-narrated "special reports". Oddly, while it was all about the "Enron loophole", it turns out McCain voted twice to close that loophole. To make a long story short, "Man on Fan" Olbermann lifted much of his "special report" from here, gussying it up with footage of testimony from people like George Soros, and made-up facts like Phil Gramm writes McCain's economic policy. After this one-sided jeremiad, Herr Olbermann did not offer the McCain campaign an opportunity to come on and tell their side. Hey, just like Tim Russert, who always only gave one side of the story.
After a comedian [Ding!] came #2: Plug for #1. #1: Russert memorial footage. In the Media Matters Minute, Krazy Legs attacked comedian [Ding!] Limbaugh (Blue Blog Source: Crooks & Liars) and Bill Kristol (Blue Blog Source: Hillary Clinton's Media Matters, plagiarized nearly word for word). Done in the memory, of course, of the great Tim Russert, who did a special segment attacking people he didn't like on every episode of Meet the Press.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 772nd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
BONUS: Enjoy a dramatic reading of tonight's recap courtesy of our very own OlbyRobot:
"Whitey" Rumor Pushed by Countdown Guest Expert and Olbermann Pal
John Gibson points out the true origins of this smear of Michelle Obama, and goes on to discuss the New Yorker article profiling the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
ELECTION 2008: Richard Wolffe, Howard Fineman, Dana Milbank
Another day, another opening spiel: Gore endorses Obama! Obama hires Clintonista! Repubs don't like McCain! McCain's supporters are sexist racists! Fox attack! They "dismissed Russert" as a member of the liberal media. Keep that spielism in mind, as we will show it to be Another Olbermann Lie. It must be a blue Monday at Olbermann Watch.
#5: McCain supporters are racists (Blue Blog Source: Talking Points Memo)! Plus they are rape jokists (Blue Blog Source: HuffPo)! McCain has to learn: on OlbyPlanet, decade-old jokes about rape are headline news if someone says them and the candidate doesn't even know about it, but they're not even reported on when it's a Democrat doing the talking. Olby pimped out his prissy pal The Wolffe Man, who simpered about how badly McCain is doing, and was Great Thanksed.
The Pundit for All Occasions was next to bloviate on the Great Rape Joke Scandal. No, not Al Franken's. Plus he speculated that Republicans are going to target the racist vote. "Especially for that last perspective" Howie was Great Thanksed.
#4: The unending Russert Rememberances continued via video of his son from the network mothership.
#3: Still waiting for the Gore endorsarama, it's on to Obama hiring a Clintonite, and McCain being a liar. The Big Lie this time? He said JFK and Goldwater were committed to doing Town Halls across the country. But they never actually agreed, based on something Goldwater said decades after the fact. Horrors! Oralmann pimped out Dana Milbank, minus multicolored mufti, who yammered in agreement. Uh oh, Gore is already 12 minutes behind schedule. What will Legs Olbermann do if his time runs out? Demand to stay on the air? Ditch the Media Matters Minute? One can hardly imagine Tom Brokaw's favorite MSNBCer doing that!
After Oralmann repeated his lie (Fox News "dismissed Tim Russert" as part of the liberal media) we got #2: plug for #1. #1: Maybe this will be the long-awaited Gore endorsement! Oops, Keithy ran out of time. Too bad, so sad.
In the Media Matters Minute, the victims were The Press Club (Blue Blog Source: Think Propaganda) and Monica Crowley (Blue Blog Source: Hillary Clinton's Media Matters). Radical right! [Ding!]
"Man on Fan" Olbermann saved the venomous 'worst' position for, naturally, Fox. Again Fat Ass claimed they "dismissed" Russert with "two minutes of hate". Conveniently, Bear didn't read a single quote from the segment. He didn't show any video clip. Why do you suppose that is? He got on his high horse of false umbrage, but now that you've read Oralmann's lies, see with your own eyes the segment in question. Note how they defend Russert from the classless self-pimping degradations of Chris Matthews:
OK, you've seen it. Is this a segment of "hate" toward Tim Russert? Did they "dismiss" his career as nothing more than a member of the liberal media? Or did Keith Olbermann just lie about Fox again? You make the call: the comments are open.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 770th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Outrage: Kossacks Leap on Russert Death to Promote Olbermann!
This is Keith Olbermann's blog, the one he chose to sign up for and uses to promote his program and special comments. So it will surprise no one that just moments after the unexpected and tragic death of Tim Russert, the Kossacks seize the occasion to hype the career of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann:
One word = Olbermann, Monday thru Friday on MSNBC, Sunday on Meet the Press
We should send email to MSNBC asking for that.
Olberman won't be any good if he burns out.
SteamPunkX nails it. -- Keith Olbermann.
I suspect they'll put Chris Matthews in charge of Meet the Press.
Tim called Florida for Bush as Jack Welch told him to do. Sorry for Tim and his family, but that sucked, as have the following 8 years.
I don't want to see MS-NBC putting Chris "Tweety" Matthews in the Meet the Press catbird seat, just so he can run for Specter's PA senate seat like a good Republican. Meet the Press had enough Republican insider from Russert. Let's see Olberman [sic] running Meet the Press.
Olbermann Watch extends its deepest sympathies to the family of Tim Russert, who will be in our prayers.
Keith Olbermann: "The Ann Coulter of the Airwaves"
Clinton Loyalist Lanny Davis says the Clinton's don't have an "enemies list" but Lanny Davis does and in the media Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews are at the top of that list. Jump to 3:20 mark:
These two people [Matthews and Olbermann] were old friends of mine who I respected (note past tense) when they were on my side of the Clinton impeachment battle... they went personal, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann went personal and venomous and vitriolic, they became the Ann Coulter of the airwaves which is the worst I could imagine...
Wait? Matthews and Olbermann were on Lanny Davis' side during the Clinton impeachment? MSNBC journalists taking sides? But I thought Keith had said to anyone dumb enough to listen that his coverage of the Lewinsky Scandal showed that he was NOT taking sides, that he was not a liberal? This all so confusing when Democrats fight.
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
ATTACK McCAIN NIGHT: John Kerry, Richard Wolffe, VoteVets Hack
OBAMA'S ALREADY BEATEN McCAIN: Eugene Robinson
MSNBC's most-watched tax deadbeat bellowed the opening spiel: McCain wants to keep the troops in Iraq to get bombed and killed! He's confused! [Ding!] John Kerry (D) enters OlbyPlanet! Obama leads McCain all over the place! Hollywood loves Obama! Get out your ObamaVision spectacles, it's hump day at Olbermann Watch.
#5: Today's the tipping point! Oralmann adopting fully the talking points on McCain's Iraq comment (Blue Blog Sources: Talking Points Memo, HuffPo, The DNC, etc.). McCain is confused [Ding!]. Not only that, he's confused [Ding!]. Do you get the impression that the word of the day is "confused"? Fat Ass was happy to embrace the term because of the implication of senility that even Democrats find shameful. Kerry: McCain confuses [Ding!], confuses [Ding!], and confuses[Ding!]. He's really confused! [Ding!] Besides, he doesn't know anything about Iraq. Olbermahn attacked McCain with glee--nothing he says makes any sense, don't you know. If this were 1974, Bathtub Boy would be Jane Fonda.
Iraq is McCain's albatross! Krazy Keith pimped out The Wolffe Man to increase the size of tonight's steaming pile of dung. The prissy Brit did his usual bobblehead ditto-machine impression and--shockingly--was Great Thanksed! All this turned out to be a plug for a Special Education Komment tomorrow against--you guessed it--John McCain! We are overjoyed that is falling on a Thursday.
Now the following is why Olbermann Watch is the #1 Olbermann blog in the world--even on OlbyPlanet. We'll tell you what Merkle doesn't want you to know. Do you think he's doing another SEK because he's outraged? Guess again. The real reason: he has just seen his one-week triumph of almost beating O'Reilly evaporating like a drop of water in the Sahara desert. His viewership has taken a huge tumble. The hoped-for KOmentum has gotten four flat tires. So it's time for the usual desperation measure: another Special Education Komment. Watch for it to be pimped on Olbermann's blog (Daily Kos) to ensure that every Kossack with a tv in their Mom's basement will be tuned in.
#4: The flogging continues. Lieberman is McCain's "dog's body", whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. McCain is "abandoning" the troops! Oralmann pimped out another hack from votevets, the far-left anti-McCain group that Olby claimed spoke for "how veterans feel". (If that ain't Another Olbermann Lie then water ain't wet.) The propaganda was so thick with drivel it's impossible to describe.
After Bushed (Blue Blog Sources: Crooks & Liars, Democratic Underground, Raw Story) and what seems like the nighly attack on Gretchen Carlson (Fox Noise! [Ding!]) finally came #3: Herr Olbermann's cherry-picked NBC poll numbers find Obama crushing McCain in every possible demographic! Of course most of those findings were within the margin of error, but why mention that. Assiduously! [Ding!] Olby pimped out Robinson to increase the fake amazement at the amazing poll numbers that show the amazing Obama with an amazing "landslide" lead! They both raved about how brilliantly the brilliant Obama brilliantly got rid of the brilliant Johnson guy whose brilliant conflict of interest was glossed over last night by the brilliant Krazy Keith and brilliantly turned into an attack on--who else?--John McCain. Robby was Great Thanksed and so tonight we made our second Love Connection.
#2: Plug for #1. #1: Update on the Kucinich impeachment articles that were covered so heavily just last night? Um, not exactly, since the articles were shunted off to a committee to die a slow, painful death. Oralmann doesn't want you to know that so instead we got Hollywood in Lurve with Obama!
In the Media Matters Minute, Monkeymann didn't disappoint. He attacked Steve Doocy (Blue Blog Source: newsliars), Fixed News! [Ding!], O'Reilly (attack #481), and worst: Katie Couric (Blue Blog Source: HuffPo).
Tonight's MisterMeter reading: 1 [LOW]
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 765th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
ELECTION 2008: Richard Wolffe, Rachel Maddow of Err America, Jonathan Alter
BLUE DRESS INTERVIEW PART DEUX: Scott McClellan
FULL-SEGMENT O'REILLY ATTACK: Yawn
You know you are in the presence of political hackery when the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann returns to your screen. The CEO of the humbly-named Olbermann Broadcasting Empire bellowed the opening spiel: Obamarama! More McCain attacks! Fox attack! McClellan redux! Joe McCarthy! The two-day-old ambush video. Orally! [Ding!] Yeah, this is what passes for "news" on MSNBC, and it's a blue Monday at Olbermann Watch.
#5: The price of gas is up. Fawning over the Obama "economic tour". Big oil! [Ding!] Keithy pimped out his special friend Richard Wolffe, who simpered in bobblehead agreement. We'll sum it up for you: Obama's doing everything right, McCain' everything wrong.
On to the "slime machine". Fox Noise! [Ding!] Fox Noise! [Ding!].E.D. Hill is evil because she teased a segment with the fist bump: was it a fist-bump, a pound, a terrorist jab? Of course the segment went on to say it was just a friendly gesture, but Oralmann has to slime E.D. Hill to please his blue blog buffoons. It doesn't matter that Time magazine did the same thing: talked about different ways the gesture was being interpreted, including a terrorist-style jab, before explaining what it is. When Time does it it's OK. When Fox does it, it's eeeevil.
To pile on the attacks Fat Ass pimped out comedian Rachel Maddow, tonight playing a expert in non-verbal communications. Far-right! [Ding!] E.D. Hill is afraid of black people! They're gonna run ads against Obama and he has to get the Clintons to blow them out of the water! This has been a paid political announcement!!
#4: The graphic sez it all: McBush. It's the nightly attack segment. McCain is a liar! Lefty Alter was the designated Pinocchio, who say Republicans "do this" (attack the press, lie, whatever) "all the time".
After Fixed News! [Ding!] came #3: more McClellan! Graphic of Bush & Cheney: "They Lied". Olby cites the Senate Intelligence Committee, but of course people who actually practice journalism know better. Uh oh, Olby is trying to get McClellan to throw someone under the bus [Ding!] but Scottie is measuring his words. Neither one of course actually gives the quotes from the Senate report that the Post, linked above, does. Why do you suppose that is? Here's a hint: remember you are on OlbyPlanet. Rosetta Stone! [Ding!] Oralmann tried three times to concoct a conspiracy to lie, but McClellan refused to bite. Oh well, that's his last appearance on The Hour of Spin. He didn't even get Great Thanksed.
#2: a plug for #1: #1: Merkle's diseased obsession found him cackling over the O'Reilly producer ambush tape that was old news yesterday. But gee, his audience expects it, you know. In the Media Matters Minute, the victims were Brad Blakeman (Blue Blog Source: Daily Kos) and Cavuto (Blue Blog Source: newsliars). Fox Noise! [Ding!] Fixed News! [Ding!] Oralmann had no valid source for at least part of this one so it's possible this was another of his lies. We'll turn it over to the Olbermann Watch Research Division.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 763rd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
The usual crap.
Finally, a week of the deranged Keith Olbermann ends. The opening spiel... Frack the opening spiel. It's casual Friday at Olbermann Watch.
#5: Drivel.
#4: Repellent claptrap.
#3: Boneheaded Hogwash, Orange-style.
#2: Obnoxious Lamebrained Biased Yelping.
#1: Keith Advances Repulsive Misinformation Again.
Sorry, that's all we could stomach of the infamous, deplorable tax cheater tonight. At that it's more than he deserves.
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 26 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 9 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -70 [mama's boy limp].
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 760 day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
The Truth About Keith Olbermann's Favorite Felon...Revealed!
He's Oralmann's "legal expert", even though he's a disbarred attorney. He pontificates about Bush "criminality", even though he's a convicted lawbreaker himself. But here is what Herr Olbermann will not tell you about the criminal John Dean:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
OBAMARAMA: Andrea Mitchell, Howie Fineman, Eugene Robinson, Jonathan Alter
NIGHTLY McCAIN ATTACK: Rachel Maddow of Err America
How will the orange one contain himself tonight? Let's see, starting with, of course, the opening spiel: It's history! But what will Hillary do? Nightly McCain attack! Unity!? What, no mention of Hillary's decision to concede on Friday? Well, that news just broke, and the opening spiel is pre-taped so that Oralmann doesn't stumble over the words, and apparently he didn't think it was worth cutting another tape. It's hump day at Olbermann Watch!
#5: Hillary to back out on Friday. Andrea Mitchell wisely phoned in so there will be no footage of her and Herr Olbermann on the screen together. The Pundit for All Occasions nattered, followed by regurgitated Obamatape from the network mothership. Sycophant Robinson rhapsodized over "history".
After a "right wing" [Ding!] came #4: more Obamarama and more regurgitated video. Oh, and Hillary is doing everything wrong. Just ask Lefty Alter!
After Bushed (Blue Blog Sources: Michael Moore, HuffPo, BuzzFlash) came another misogynistic sneer at Gretchen Carlson who was Miss America "sometime before the turn of the century". Finally we got to #3, which as we know by now is the nightly McCain attack. But first we had to hear again about Hillary quitting on Friday. Then it was on to tonight's application of Rule #1: whatever a Republican does, it's a bad move, i.e. McCain's proposal for joint town hall meetings. The banner read, of course, "McSame". To effect tonight's ridicule, Keith pimped out comedian Rachel Maddow of Err America, who tonight played a campaign strategist. She made fun of McCain so well so she got Great Thanksed, and we finally made tonight's Love Connection.
#2: Plug for #1. #1: More "break news" baloney. In the Media Matters Minute, "Man on Fan" Olbermann attacked Jed Babbin (Blue Blog Source: Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) and of course Mr Bill (Blue Blog Source: HuffPo). Aww Merkle. Your Kossack lemmings are going to be disappointed that you didn't lift anything without attribution from them tonight.
Muted Mongrels: This was big headline news, at least among responsible media outfits. And yet, MSDNC did their best not to let it spoil their celebration. In fact, Chris Matthews came on the air just moments after the news broke and neither he nor his leg bothered to report it. It was a tough call figuring out what link would best illustrate Bathtub Boy's sleazy partisanship in doing his part to completely spike this story on tonight's Hour of Spin. We decided to use this one, from the website of someone who has been an honored guest in the Seat of Honor on OlbyPlanet time after time. But not on this, nor likely ever again. 'Nuff said.
Tonight's MisterMeter reading: 3 [GUARDED]
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 758th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
After exposing a series of falsehoods about US Iran policy, John Gibson asks why do Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw permit their reputations to be soiled by appearing with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann? We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M.)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
2008 ELECTION: Chuck Todd, NBC News political director; Richard Wolffe, Newsweek senior White House correspondent and MSNBC political analyst; Chris Hayes, The Nation Washington editor
It's a new week on OlbyPlanet, and the Kossacks' favorite tax cheat is back to bellow the opening spiel: Clinton on the verge of suspending! Nighty McCain attack: the Gramm Scandal! [Ding!] Pringles! It's a blue Monday at Olbermann Watch.
#5: Hillary on the verge of endorsing Obama! By tomorrow night! Oh, and Karl Rove will in fact be indicted. Hot Toddy rattled off the over-familiar delegate counts and was Great Thanksed. Keith pimped out the Wolffe Man, who simpered speculation and was able to give McCain a few elbows as well. Sure enough, he was Greaat Thanksed.
#4: More on will Hillary pull out. Oralmann dragged in perennial priss Dana Milbank. Their "discussion" was the most substanceless, content-free drivel heard in many an OlbyPlanet moon. He too was Great Thanksed. Olby was handing them out like penny candies tonight. A brief update on Sen Kennedy followed.
After "Bushed" (Blue Blog Sources: Talking Points Memo, Think Propaganda, Prison Planet) and the McCain Scandal [Ding!] came #3: the nightly McCain attack. Scandal! [Ding!] Clip of McCain at AIPAC that edited out the applause. Oralmann spun a six-degrees-of-separation deal involving Phil Gramm and what some bank did five years ago, then pimped out Hayes from the ultra-left (though not identified as such) Nation, who sweetened the pot with a McCain-bashing quote from MSNBC "pundit" Joe Scarborough. They did everything but call him "McSame" again.
#2: Plug for #1. #1: Keith Komedy about Klinton. In the Media Matters Minute, it was a plethora of the usual victims: Gretchen Carlson, Fixed News! [Ding!] (Blue Blog Source: Think Propaganda). The usual cherry-picked snippet snatched out of its context, giving Oralmann a chance to show his misogyny again: she's "dumb as a freaking post". Worser: Mike Gallagher (Blue Blog Source: Think Propaganda); personal attack for this victim: "money grubbing coward". Worst: Rupert Murdoch (Blue Blog Source: TVNewser). Olby lied that nobody there ever went after anyone's children. How about Lou Dobbs's daughter? How about Bill O'Reilly kids? And, as commenter Scott pointed out, what about Steve Doocy's kid? Remember that, Fat Ass? In case you don't, here's the blowback it led to:
You've never went after anyone's children? Another Olbermann Lie exposed.
Dogs That Did Not Bark: Once again, a veritable cornucopia of canine confidentials that Edward R Olbermann deliberately withheld from the gullible groupies who hang on his every word, shoulder shrug, and drop of spittle. Remember when Fat Ass would have a nightly Bad News from Iraq segment? We haven't seen many of those lately, because Bear has been spiking news of the Iraq war. Like this, and this. Not a peep out of Olby either about Afghanistan. Why do you suppose that is? Of course Merkle isn't about to make any mention of the latest Medal of Honor winner. (Why does Keith Olbermann hate the troops?) But the most sizable silent schnauzer has to be the continuing burial of Obama and his radical church. He has yet to report on Fr Pfleger. And he said not one word about Obama's dramatic separation from his church of 20 years. Of course A-Mess-NBC helped that along with their odd decision not to broadcast Obama's lengthy Saturday night press conference. Maybe Herr Olbermahn ordered them not to.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 756th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Mark Levin Cites Olbermann Watch, Reports on Keith's Tax Cheating
On his Friday night radio program, constitutional attorney Mark Levin reported on Keith Olbermann's pattern of tax dodging. He wanted to know why Oralmann and MSLSD refuse to address Keith's repeated failures to play by the rules and pay his fair share of taxes. This of course is tax money that undoubtedly would have been spent on shelter for homeless veterans, baby formula for starving infants, and educational benefits for our returning cold-blooded killers troops, instead of being used by Herr Olbermann to secure his Trump Palace crib. But we digress. We have the audio of Dr Levin for your listening pleasure:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
SCOTT MCCLELLAN BOOK: Howard Fineman, Newsweek senior Washington correspondent and MSNBC political analyst; Richard Wolffe, Newsweek senior White House correspondent and MSNBC political analyst; Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist and NBC News political analyst
Another opening spiel, another show: The McClellan Book! (TMB) TMB fallout! Sabre-rattling! [Ding!] Nightly McCain attack! Puerto Rico unimportant! Nightly O'Reilly attack! It's casual Friday at Olbermann Watch.
#5: TMB! Right-wing echo chamber! [Ding!] Bob Dole thinks he's a greedy opportunist! McClellan might vote for Obama. Or maybe he won't. It's got to be one or the other. Oralmann called GOP candidate "McSame", gave lengthy DNC ad a free run. The Pundit for All Occasions, Howard Sameman, nattered that they're out to destroy McClellan. Howie was Great Thanksed.
Next up a terrific scoop from last night's blue dress interview: McClellan doesn't know what the administration's plans are regarding Iran. Oooh, that's scary! And definitely a stop-the-presses headline. Sabre-rattling! [Ding!] Krazy Keith pimped out the Wolffe Man, who simpered in that prissy way that Olby loves so much about how McClellan had more access than Tony Snow ever had. Right.
#4: The ObamaVision circuity is cranked up for the latest bash Hillary, gush over Barack segment. Lefty Alter parroted. Odd, for all the coverage, night after night, of Hagee [Ding!] not one mention was made of Pfleger. But hey, this is OlbyPlanet.
After the "Bushed" segment (Blue Blog Sources: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Arnstein Larsen) came #3: Nightly McCain attack. Gen Olbermahn ruled that the goal of the surge was not reducing violence. Oh really? Bathtub Boy claimed last year that the surge would be nothing more than "failed bloodletting". Oralmann went on to attack Gen Petraeus as a mere "politician" out to "sell a political platform". Comedian Rachel Maddow, tonight playing a military expert, ridiculed McCain again while cackling about every time he misspeaks. Oralmann sat there saying stuff like: yup, yeah, right. In other words, the same OlbyPlanet crap.
After a right-wing [Ding!] and a plug for his now-ancient book came #2: the Media Matters Minute. A priest is critical of Rev Wright? Horrors! (Blue Blog Sources: HuffPo). Condemn that priest forthwith! Especially since we have to distract from the Pfleger Apfair. Here's the eeevil invocation for your viewing pleasure:
Continuing: Michelle Malkin (Blue Blog Source: Daily Kos), and most eeevil of all, Rupert Murdoch (Blue Blog Source: HuffPo).
#1: It's O'Reilly attack #474, and we have to wonder when the infamous, deplorable one will hit the 500 mark. Place yer bets. For your viewing pleasure, we present the video that got Oralmann all hot, sweaty, and excited:
Whew! No wonder Keithy had to take a cold shower after watching that one!
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. This week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 26 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 8 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -68 [sissy limp].
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 753rd day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
Lionel, one of the talk show hosts on the Air America network, had all he could stand of the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. He ripped into Oralmann's ego, exposed his bias, while piling on a heap of sarcastic ridicule. (Just wait until he learns Keith is also a tax cheat!) We have the audio for your listening pleasure:
COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
2008 ELECTION: Howard Fineman, Newsweek senior Washington correspondent and MSNBC political analyst; Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist and NBC News political analyst; Christopher Hayes, The Nation; John Cleese, actor
Fat Ass barked the opening spiel: How dare Hillary say it? Is her political career over?!? And a Special Education Komment: This Time You've Gone Too Far! Nightly McCain attack! Parlsey! [Ding!] Sage! [Ding!] Rosemary & Thyme! [Ding!][Ding!] Yep, casual Friday at Olbermann Watch.
UPDATED: With Special Komment annotated transcript, video, and a unique dramatic reading by the OlbyRobot!
#5: Hillary cites RFK assassination. Another plug for the Special Education Komment (hereafter APftSEK). it's a "third-rail word"! The Pundit for All Occasions nattered that the campaign needs to be put out of its misery but was not Great Thanksed. Lefty Alter chimed in to nitpick Hillary's dates and references.
After APftSEK and APftSEK came #4: Still more about Hillary. Wow, the Kos Kidz wanted Olbermahn to use this to force her out of the race, and it's obvious he is once again doing their bidding. Douglas Brinkley was shoehorned into the hour to further repeat the same news for the 7th time and promote the OlbySpin of the night: it's time to quit.
APftSEK, Parsley! [Ding!], and Hagee! [Ding!], plus a defense of vandalizing White House property preceded #3: the nightly McCain attack. Hagee! [Ding!] A recitation of alleged quotes attributed to Hagee! [Ding!] Hagee! [Ding!] Hagee! [Ding!] On-screen graphic calls Hagee [Ding!] "McCain's pastor". Parsley! [Ding!] Herr Olbermann decreed that it doesn't matter how healthy he is, he's too damn old. Hayes from the far-left Nation played fun-house mirror to Bear's caricatures of McCain and for that he was Great Thanksed.
After APftSEK, APftSEK, and APftSEK came #2: the Media Matters Minute. Tonight's victims: Campaign for Children and Families (Blue Blog Source: Think Propaganda), Lou Dobbs (Blue Blog Source: Think Propaganda) where once again Oralmann broke the Sopranos rule and dragged Lou's children into his attack, and "worst" Admiral Mark Buzby (Blue Blog Source: Raw Story).
Finally, held for the last Nielsen minute, tonight's Special Education Komment. The eyebrows were pumping, the shoulders were shaking, and once again Bathtub Boy pretended to address his rant to Hillary Clinton herself, as if she were actually watching his drivel. The requisite camera shifts at dramatic moments, the scripted decibel peaks at key dramatic moments, the suddenly hushed, "serious" moments: all the familiar elements were in place, repeated as before, in the same fashion. Only the muffed words and tongue slips (the problem when you writers have to whip up one of these at the last minute) distinguished this otherwise undistinguished rerun. In an odd way it was like watching Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, a rote, mechanical reassembly of tricks that, thanks to their overuse and predictability, long ago wore out their welcome. See the appendix for the full annotated text and video as soon as they become available.
If it's Friday, it's our weekly assessment of Krazy Keith's masculinity. During this four-day week, Monkeymann attacked Fox and other broadcasters 26 times. Olby's source (Hillary Clinton's Media Matters) criticized (MS)NBC 6 times, but Keithy protected his corporate masters with zero criticisms. That makes this week's Olbermann Manhood Quotient: -64 [twinkie limp].
Tonight's MisterMeter reading: 3 [GUARDED]
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 746th day since the declaration that "Karl Rove will in fact be indicted".
APPENDIX: Keithy's latest Special Education Komment, annotated transcript, video, and a special reading by the OlbyRobot...
[rattle through this quickly so viewers won't change the channel before you get to the good part]
Asked if her continuing fight for the nomination against Senator Obama hurts the Democratic party, Sen. Hillary Clinton replied, "I don't. Because again, I've been around long enough. You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just don't understand it. You know, there's lots of speculation about why it is. "
The comments were recorded and we showed them to you earlier and they are online as we speak. She actually said those words.
[camera pivot; raise your voice]
Those words, Senator?
You actually invoked the nightmare of political assassination.
You actually invoked the specter of an inspirational leader, at the seeming moment of triumph, for himself and a battered nation yearning to breathe free, silenced forever.
[do the head shake thing here]
You actually used the word "assassination" in the middle of a campaign with a loud undertone of racial hatred - and gender hatred - and political hatred.
You actually used the word "assassination" in a time when there is a fear, unspoken but vivid and terrible, that our again-troubled land and fractured political landscape [eyebrows up here] might target a black man running for president.
Or a white man.
Or a white woman!
You actually used those words, in this America, Senator, while running against an African-American against whom the death threats started the moment he declared his campaign?
You actually used those words, in this America, Senator, while running to break your "greatest glass ceiling" and claiming there are people who would do anything to stop you?
You!
[sound effect here; please try not to jump and wince in terror like you've done in every rehearsal, OK?]
Senator - never mind the implications of using the word "assassination" in any connection to Senator Obama...
What about you?
[faster, pussycat, louder, louder!]
You cannot say this!
[OK, take a beat or two, lower it down to a 5, and don't forget the camera switch]
The references, said her spokesperson, were not, in any way, weighted.
The allusions, said Mo Uh-leathee, are, "...historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer and any reading into it beyond that would be inaccurate and outrageous."
I'm sorry. There is no inaccuracy.
Not for a moment does any rational person believe Senator Clinton is actually hoping for the worst of all political calamities.
Yet the outrage belongs, not to Senator Clinton or her supporters, but to every other American.
Firstly, she has previously bordered on the remarks she made today...
Then swerved back from them and the awful skid they represented.
[emphasize 'skid' with that little head jut you do...it's so cute]
She said, in an off-camera interview with Time on March 6, "Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June, also in California. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual. We will see how it unfolds as we go forward over the next three to four months."
In retrospect, we failed her when we did not call her out, for that remark, dry and only disturbing, innside the pages of a magazine. But somebody obviously warned her of the danger of that rhetoric:
After the Indiana primary, on May 7, she told supporters at a Washington hotel:
"Sometimes you gotta calm people down a little bit. But if you look at successful presidential campaigns, my husband did not get the nomination until June of 1992. I remember tragically when Senator Kennedy won California near the end of that process."
And at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on the same day, she again avoided the word assassination:
"You know, I remember very well what happened in the California primary in 1968 as, you know, Senator Kennedy won that primary."
On March 6th she had said "assassinated." By May 7 she had avoided it. Today... she went back into an awful well.
There is no good time to recall the awful events of June 5th, 1968 in Los Angeles, of Senator Bobby Kennedy, happy and alive - perhaps, for the first time since his own brother's death in Dallas in 1963... Galvanized to try to lead this nation back from one of its darkest eras... Only to fall victim to the same scourge that took that brother, and Martin Luther King... There is no good time to recall this.
[a little tremble in the voice here will help sell it]
But certainly to invoke it, two weeks before the exact 40th anniversary of the assassination, is an insensitive and heartless thing.
And certainly to invoke it, three days after the awful diagnosis, and heart-breaking prognosis, for Senator Ted Kennedy, is just as insensitive, and just as heartless. And both actions, open a door wide into the soul of somebody who seeks the highest office in this country, and through that door shows something not merely troubling, but frightening.
[the pause of significance; camera pivot means time to ratchet up the decibels a bit]
And politically inexplicable. What, Senator, do you suppose would happen if you withdrew from the campaign, and Senator Obama formally became the presumptive nominee, and then suddenly left the scene? It doesn't even have to be the "dark curse upon the land" you implied today, Senator. Nor even an issue of health. He could simply change his mind... Or there could unfold that perfect-storm scandal your people have often referenced, even predicted. Maybe he could get a better offer from some other and wiser, country. What happens then, Senator? You are not allowed back into the race? Your delegates and your support vanish? The Democrats don't run anybody for President?
[crank it up a bit more]
What happens, of course, is what happened when the Democrats' vice presidential choice, Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, had to withdraw from the ticket, in 1972 after it proved he had not been forthcoming about previous mental health treatments. George McGovern simply got another vice president.
Senator, as late as the late summer of 1864 the Republicans were talking about having a second convention, to withdraw Abraham Lincoln's re-nomination and choose somebody else because until Sherman took Atlanta in September it looked like Lincoln was going to lose the election to George McClellan.
You could theoretically suspend your campaign, Senator.
[lots of head shakes and hand waves here to sell the sarcasm]
There's plenty of time and plenty of historical precedent, Senator, in case you want to come back in, if something bad should happen to Senator Obama. Nothing serious, mind you.
[snarl at the camera, growl into the microphone]
It's just like you said, "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."
[meaningful pause, camera pivot, lower your voice again]
Since those awful words in Sioux Falls, and after the condescending, buck-passing statement from her spokesperson, Senator Clinton has made something akin to an apology, but without any evident recognition of the true trauma she has inflicted.
[get through this paragraphs as fast as possible]
"I was discussing the Democratic primary history, and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged California in June in 1992 and 1968," she said in Brandon, South Dakota. "I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact.
"The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy. I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive, I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever."
"My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to and I'm honored to hold Senator Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate in the state of New York and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family. Thanks."
[the pause of significance]
Not a word about the inappropriateness of referencing assassination.
Not a word about the inappropriateness of implying - whether it was intended or not - that she was hanging around waiting for somebody to try something terrible.
Not a word about Senator Obama.
Not a word about Senator McCain.
[start to ratchet it up again]
Not: I'm sorry...
Not: I apologize...
Not: I blew it...
Not: please forgive me.
[pause, change camera angles, watch the clock]
God knows, Senator, in this campaign, this nation has had to forgive you, early and often...
And despite your now traditional position of the offended victim, this nation has forgiven you.
We have forgiven you your insistence that there have been widespread calls for you to end your campaign, when such calls had been few. We have forgiven you your misspeaking about Martin Luther King's relative importance to the Civil Rights movement.
We have forgiven you your misspeaking about your under-fire landing in Bosnia.
We have forgiven you insisting Michigan's vote wouldn't count and then claiming those who would not count it were Un-Democratic.
We have forgiven you pledging to not campaign in Florida and thus disenfranchise voters there, and then claiming those who stuck to those rules were as wrong as those who defended slavery or denied women the vote.
We have forgiven you the photos of Osama Bin Laden in an anti-Obama ad...
We have forgiven you fawning over the fairness of Fox News while they were still calling you a murderer.
[crescendo here]
We have forgiven you accepting Richard Mellon Scaife's endorsement and then laughing as you described his "deathbed conversion."
We have forgiven you quoting the electoral predictions of Boss Karl Rove.
[whatever you do, do NOT stumble over quoting the electoral!]
We have forgiven you the 3 a.m. Phone Call commercial.
We have forgiven you President Clinton's disparaging comparison of the Obama candidacy to Jesse Jackson's.
[keep cranking it up, but watch the spit]
We have forgiven you Geraldine Ferraro's national radio interview suggesting Obama would not still be in the race had he been a white man.
We have forgiven you the dozen changing metrics and the endless self-contradictions of your insistence that your nomination is mathematically probable rather than a statistical impossibility.
We have forgiven you your declaration of some primary states as counting and some as not.
We have forgiven you exploiting Jeremiah Wright in front of the editorial board of the lunatic-fringe [Ding!] Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
We have forgiven you exploiting William Ayers in front of the debate on ABC.
[look down at imaginary notes]
We have forgiven you for boasting of your "support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans"...
We have even forgiven you repeatedly praising Senator McCain at Senator Obama's expense, and your own expense, and the Democratic ticket's expense.
[use that spastic head shake]
But Senator, we cannot forgive you this.
"You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."
We cannot forgive you this -- not because it is crass and low and unfeeling and [spit this word] brutal.
This is unforgivable, because this nation's deepest shame, its most enduring horror, its most terrifying legacy, is political assassination.
[louder, louder, shout it out! turn it up to 11]
Lincoln.
Garfield.
McKinley.
Kennedy.
Martin Luther King.
Robert Kennedy.
And, but for the grace of the universe or the luck of the draw, Reagan, Ford, Truman, Nixon, Andrew Jackson, both Roosevelts, even George Wallace.
The politics of this nation is steeped enough in blood, Senator Clinton, you cannot and must not invoke that imagery! Anywhere! At any time!
[shoulder/head shake, scream at the camera, sell this for the big finish]
And to not appreciate, immediately - to still not appreciate tonight - just what you have done... is to reveal an incomprehension of the America you seek to lead.
This, Senator, is too much.
Because a senator - a politician - a person - who can let hang in mid-air the prospect that she might just be sticking around in part, just in case the other guy gets shot - has no business being, and no capacity to be, the President of the United States.
[look down, lower voice, and say the following without looking into the camera to show ultimate disgust]
Good night and good luck.
UPDATE: Tonight's Special Education Komment as read by the OlbyRobot, using Text Aloud via AT&T Natural Voices [courtesy of MikeC]:
Meet the OlbyLoons: Katy Tur (Keith's Naked Little Media Slut)
Katy Tur is an OlbyLoon. And not just any OlbyLoon but Keith Olbermann number one OlbyLoon and Media Slut. Keith loves to call women sluts and toss around the c-word so we're sure Keith won't mind if we do the same here with his little GirlToy. When she's not busy trading sexual favors to advance her career, she's busy trading on Keith's connections in the broadcast industry to advance the same. Katy would like to make a reputation for herself as a broadcaster when all she's done by prostituting herself in using her Sugar Daddy's connections is give herself a "reputation" which she will never live down as the college kid who got naked and bedded Keith in order to get on TV. Katy lives in a tortured state of existence which makes Keith Olbermann seem especially appealing.
Keith Olbermann, who has a long-standing history of "helping" women with their careers in exchange for...err...ummm..."dating" him, is apparently once again making good on his promises to an impressionable young college co-ed named Katy Tur who, at 24 years old, has gone from college dorm room, to the Olbermann casting couch to on-air reporter for Channel 11 News (CW) in New York City - all in just a matter of months. Apparently putting her nose to the "old grindstone" (or whatever Olbermann calls it) has really paid off!
It was in March that we first reported on Katy's miraculous good fortune in landing an on-air reporting gig in the largest media market in the United States with no previous on-air reporting experience so its time to check in and see how she's doing. Readers will recall that Katy, who graduated from the "prestigious" University of California at Santa Barbara without a degree in journalism or communications, and whose only experience was a brief internship at a 3rd-rate TV station in California arranged by her parents answered this ad:
General Assignment Reporter (Freelance) WPIX/WB11 in New York has an exciting opportunity available for a General Assignment Reporter. Qualified candidates should possess strong and exceptional delivery of news on-air, and the ability to generate, report and edit stories. Clear and concise public communicator and visible professional representative of station's news broadcast. The ideal candidate must have a college degree in a related field and 3+ years reporting experience. Visit our website at www.wb11.com and submit your resume with required salary expectations and cover letter today or mail your tape to: WPIX, Attn: Human Resources, 220 E. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 EOE
One can only wonder why someone who did not meet even the minimum criteria for the job would even bother to apply. Katy not only applied but beat out hundreds of other applicants to land the job despite zero experience! Responding to accusations that Olbermann played a role in landing her a job for which she was clearly not qualified, WPIX spokewoman Jessica Bellucci implausibly claimed, "She got the job on her own merit". Of course the real message from WPIX and Bellucci to young women interested in a career in broadcast journalism was clear: don't worry about silly things like journalism degrees or working your way up in smaller markets just find a Sugar Daddy in the biz and hold on tight!
As for being an equal opportunity employer, I wonder if we will ever hear from any of the other QUALIFIED applicants who were turned down to give KO's GirlToy her shot at the big time. Keith loves to portray himself as a man of the people - in the abstract perhaps he can justify that - but when comes to trampling over the opportunities for hard-working, dedicated professionals who EARNED their each step in their career Keith is all about Keith.
Katy's first big moment was the crane collapse which destroyed several buildings in midtown Manhattan and killed four people. Katy, broadcasting live from the scene described the action for viewers,
"This is exciting!", gushed Tur.
"Exciting!"? For her maybe but less so for the hundreds of people made homeless by the tragedy and the four people who were crushed to death. Oh well, in OlbyWorld its always about Keith why should KatyWorld be any different. The death and destruction was exciting FOR HER and of course the story of the day was not really about people losing their homes or lives or family members. It was about Katy getting to do real live broadcasting on a real TV station. You can just about here Katy squeel "Weeeeeeee! Look at me! I'm on TeeeeeVeeeee!" as she steps over dead bodies in the rubble. Nice.
A local vlogger shot some video of Katy in action at the crane collapse (sorry but Channel 11 edited out Katy's "This is exciting" line). I also found some video of Katy covering a horrific story where a dead fetus was found inside a Catholic Church. Katy's take on the story - it's great that someone was "helped" by dumping the dead fetus for the monsignor to find inside the church, her first interview is a "former parishioner" who can barely contain his delight that such a wonderful thing has happened.
Olbermann to Host Meet the Press? What Say You, Tim Russert?
Keith Olbermann, a shameless partisan hack, is permitted to participate in debates on A-Mess-NBC. Even though he blogs at a site whose purpose it is to elect Democrats, and has signed on to a campaign to "Sink John McCain", KO is allowed to co-host election coverage. But how far will NBC permit such journalistic outrages to go?
Now comes word that NBC may be about to permit the infamous, deplorable one to take over Meet the Press while Tim Russert is on vacation. Is Mr Russert on board with this? Does Brian Williams approve? What would Tom Brokaw say? We don't recall them promoting, writing on, and raising money for the Daily Kos. Are there different rules for Edward R Olbermann? Is he exempt from the standards and practices that NBC's actual journalists have to follow?
Herr Olbermann Caught (again) Slurring Victims of Nazi Atrocities
A loyal OlbyLoon viewer was offended by Bathtub Boy's use of the word "gyped" in an interview with NBC News Bureau Chief Tim Russert: "gyped" referring to "gypsies" otherwise known as the Romani people from the Balkan region of Eastern Europe, is a well-known racial slur which has been on the list of "banned" terms at NBC News long before anyone had even heard of a "nappy-headed ho". Apparently it's OK to use racial slurs at MSNBC so long as Al Sharpton is not offended.
A Kossack created a diary entry here asking him to stop using the racial slur ever again. She was immediately attacked for daring to criticize "our guy" in the media It's not often we agree with the Kossacks but they got it right this time. Keith needs to make an on-air apology tonight.
Do you think the slovenly, political hack will apologize? Will he have a primary coverage postscript throwing himself on the mercies of the loony left? What say you loyal readers?
Mark Levin on Olbermann: "He's Now on Our Radar Screen"
As promised, Mark Levin took on the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann yet again on tonight's broadcast. You can hear Dr Levin's complete shows at his website, but we have boiled down the first hour to ten essential must-hear minutes. We present it here for your listening pleasure:
COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M.)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
2008 ELECTION/ABC's DEMOCRATIC DEBATE: Dana Milbank,
The Washington Post; Rachel Maddow, Air America radio host and MSNBC political analyst; Rick Perlstein; American historian and journalist
IS BULGARIAN IDOL BETTER THAN THE AMERICAN VERSION?: Maria Milito, Q104.3
No recap for you tonight. We'll try to update the post over the weekend to document Oralmann's worst lies and embarrassments. In its place, we have a special treat: a tag-team smackdown of the infamous, deplorable one, featuring John Gibson and Mark Levin. Their shows air simultaneously, and they both siezed on Wednesday night's special post-debate Hour of Spin. Our clip is in three parts. Part one: Gibson nails Keithy's dazzlingly self-unaware Olbypocrisy: Extreme Edition. Part two: Mark Levin piles on and turns it up to 11. Part three: Gibby is back for a special bonus. Dramatic recitations from the blue blogs who were Olby's source material and inspiration. Enjoy...
Links to OlbermannWatch.com
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Announced this week was the 
