Olbermann to criticize Bush again…
All day long on MSNBC they’ve been advertising that Keith Olbermann will do another Special Comment on President Bush. ICN has acquired a copy and it’s really strong stuff. Here’s a preview…
UPDATE: The full comment is now up on MSNBC.com…
While the leadership in Congress has self-destructed over the revelations of an unmatched, and unrelieved, march through a cesspool. While the leadership inside the White House has self-destructed over the revelations of a book with a glowing red cover.
The President of the United States unbowed, undeterred, and unconnected to reality, has continued his extraordinary trek through our country rooting out the enemies of freedom: The Democrats.
Yesterday at a fundraiser for an Arizona Congressman, Mr. Bush claimed, quote, “177 of the opposition party said ‘You know, we don’t think we ought to be listening to the conversations of terrorists.”
The hell they did.
177 Democrats opposed the President’s seizure of another part of the Constitution. Not even the White House press office could actually name a single Democrat who had ever said the government shouldn’t be listening to the conversations of terrorists.
President Bush hears what he wants.
Tuesday, at another fundraiser in California, he had said “Democrats take a law enforcement approach to terrorism. That means America will wait until we’re attacked again before we respond.” Mr. Bush fabricated that, too. And evidently he has begun to fancy himself as a mind-reader.“If you listen closely to some of the leaders of the Democratic Party,” the President said at another fundraiser Monday in Nevada, “it sounds like they think the best way to protect the American people is: wait until we’re attacked again.”
The President doesn’t just hear what he wants. He hears things, that only he can hear. It defies belief that this President and his administration could continue to find new unexplored political gutters into which they could wallow.
Yet they do. It is startling enough that such things could be said out loud by any President of this nation.
Rhetorically, it is about an inch short of Mr. Bush accusing Democratic leaders, Democrats, the majority of Americans who disagree with his policies of treason. But it is the context that truly makes the head spin.
The one who hears what he wants and fancies himself as a mind-reader is Mister Olbermann. Does he really think he’s going to change anyone’s mind by treating his viewers as imbeciles? Or is he the imbecile?
Does he think his viewers don’t get that the President was saying those 177 Democrats were speaking with their votes? Anyone? Tanne? If you’re out there and you really were too dense to know what the President meant, name yourself.
And who thinks Mister Olbermann really called the White House Press Office? Did he speak to Tony Snow? The fabricator is Keith Olbermann. The imbecile is Keith Olbermann. The one anchor at 8pm weekdays who constantly and continuously talks DOWN to his audience is Mister Keith Olbermann.
Comment by erljr — October 5, 2006 @ 9:34 pm
Very well said, erljr.
And per olbermannwatch, the “Mister” Meter was in the “severe” range tonight, at 10!
Comment by Missy — October 5, 2006 @ 10:21 pm
Brian Stelter must be salivating. I’m sure we’ll see a post tomorrow on TVNewser quoting “e-mailers” who applaud Olbermann’s courage.
Comment by Phil — October 5, 2006 @ 10:34 pm
O’Reilly treats viewers like idiots all the time. The fact that you guys buy it all is your problem… just because you don’t like Olbermann doesn’t mean he isn’t doing something that FOX does every day… but you agree with them so of course they aren’t talking down to you… if you agreed with Olbermann, you wouldn’t think he was talking down to you… oh, and those comments that newser posts aren’t just out of the blue… the vast majority of comments that will be made on TVSpy, and various other internet message boards will support Keith Olbermann’s comments… even some hard core republican boards have had their fair share of POSITIVE things to say about Keith lately. And that explains why FOX News is in attack mode right now… they, just like the republicans are fighting for their lives right now.
Comment by Nobody — October 5, 2006 @ 11:45 pm
Phil:
I bet the “emailers” that Brian at TVN and Spud receive are either Mr. Soap Flakes Himself or from their own split personalities. Just like the “letter” KO received was probably sent by himself to himself to create buzz.
Yes, Olby got 800K Monday, but he is still 1Mill+ behind BOR. I know Olbyloons will trumpet that he is only a few thousand behind BOR in “the key demo”, but he is still way behind overall.
Besides, I have noticed that Mr. Orange-Glo has stopped mentioning the Amazon ratings for the Media Matters wrote it for him book. Maybe it’s because he’s down to something like 115 and falling, while BOR is at something like #11. Not like KO to be a hypocrite or anything.
Comment by eddiebear — October 6, 2006 @ 12:48 am
Nobody, maybe you can provide a link to where conservatives speak well of Olbermann. While you’re at it, maybe you can produce the cure for cancer!
Comment by Missy — October 6, 2006 @ 1:09 am
The messenger might be obnoxious and dislikable but Olberman is right about King George and his Congress choosing to shred the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
If one dares disagree with whatever Bush wants to do (be it lgal or not) in the name of “War on Terrorism” one is nearly accused of being a terrorist themselves. Civil liberities, privacy, and the Constitution be damned. Those are only ideals this country was founded on and people gave their lives for, but they are too inconvient now.
Let the flaming begin.
Comment by anon — October 6, 2006 @ 3:28 am
While I don’t agree with KO’s “personal” attacks on cable news anchors..He definitely has more guts than most in the business.
Comment by Terance — October 6, 2006 @ 7:15 am
Just to clarify, the “guts” comment wasn’t related to reporters/anchors who go to war zones… Just for speaking his mind. And for the record, i’ve had a number of positive and negative comments posted on TVN.
Comment by Terance — October 6, 2006 @ 7:31 am
Erljr, you must be one who hears what he wants and fancies himself a mind-reader along with Bush. The only people who continue not to “get” what he says appear to be the imbeciles here.
Do you not understand that you cannot paraphrase what a vote “says,” as Bush did, without doing it in a political way? A vote is not a statement, a vote is a VOTE. You have the opportunity to approve or disapprove something that can be done by voting for it or voting against it. Can you not see how either a vote for or a vote against can be twisted and misconstrued by a politician to mean anything he wants? That is what Olbermann is saying. He is saying it is not fair to take a Democratic vote on anything and “interpret” it to mean that “we shouldn’t be listening to the conversations of terrorists” or “we hate the color blue” or any other such thing.
I know what the President meant; I know damn well. He was using words to frame a vote and what it meant, trying to make the Dems look soft on terror. Not because they really are. But because all he cares about is that the Repubs stay in power.
You ask “And who thinks Mister Olbermann really called the White House Press Office? Did he speak to Tony Snow?” Why should he? What kind of “truth” is he going to get from THAT quarter, pray tell? He won’t get the truth, he’ll just get the PR spin, which is of course what the press office is there for,
Get this through your head: Keith Olbermann is no imbecile. The imbeciles are the people who either have forgotten the freedoms acknowledged in the US Constitution or who think they are worth surrendering because of a single day’s act of terrorism. Or worse, those who use a single day’s act of terrorism as an excuse to confiscate and concentrate all power and control of the country in themselves and their own political party. Keith Olbermann sees that. I only wish more people did.
Missy, who gives a fig what kind of “meter” Olbermannwatch puts on anything? Is the “’Mister’ Meter” supposed to be a measure of how much Keith “disrepects” our beloved President? If so, I’d be happy to see it go to 11 every night, just the the amps of Spinal Tap.
You saw courage in action, all right. Only a lot of you wouldn’t know what that’s like because you’re too busy genuflecting to your government.
Nobody: I salute you!
Eddiebear, as your beloved Prez says, I guess you just gotta keep “catapulting the propaganda” in desperate hopes that it will sink in. Parrot Olbermannwatch by calling him “Olby” and “Mr. Orange-Glo,” denounce his rising ratings and his book sales as just a mirage or twisted figures, and oh yes, please don’t forget to laugh at him about the fake anthrax letter and accuse him of sending it to himself. After all, if no one ever finds out who sent it, you can keep accusing him of it for the rest of your life, can’t you? Transparent. Very transparent.
As for conservatives speaking well of Olbermann, some people do. Because by gosh, some conservatives think the Constitution is one of the things their country is supposed to “conserve.” They’re nuts, though, huh?
I may disagree with anon about Olbermann being obnoxious and dislikable, but as to the truth he is speaking, we both agree there. King George is taking away the basic civil rights our forefathers fought and died for. And part of the reason it’s so horrifying is that even the terrorists haven’t succeeded in doing that yet. We were determined not to let them make us surrender our country and our freedom, remember? But we are. Slowly, little by little, we are. But the biggest danger isn’t the terrorists; it’s our own politicians using them as the bogeymen to scare us into surrendering our rights in the name of “winning” the “war” on them.
I never thought I’d live to see my country in this state of affairs.
Comment by tanne — October 6, 2006 @ 8:47 am
which “conservatives”? Maybe such rabid right wingers as David Gergen, who will say anything to get on TV. Or, what about Ed Rollins, who was a Perot guy and never really a Bush supporter?
Or, what about “MSNBC Republicans” like Joe Scarborough, who is acting like he is recently just to keep his job?
Comment by eddiebear — October 6, 2006 @ 9:36 am
So what, Terance? Brian Stelter posts negative comments about Fox and CNN and positive ones about MSNBC on TVNewser all the time!
Comment by Phil — October 6, 2006 @ 11:58 am
Okay Nobody, You are an ideologue. And you are doing what ideologue propagandists do; namely confusing the issue. I believe you were responding to the post and the first three comments. Why does this have anything to do with O’Reilly? Show me where his name was brought up prior to your post. If you’d read my comments at all in the past year, you would know I am the LAST person to stick up for Bill O’Reilly.
Then you bring up FNC. Where in Spud’s post or in the first three comments do you see FNC mentioned?
Then you use Missy and Phil’s comments to attack my argument, and you bring O’Reilly and FNC into it again:
“…just because you don’t like Olbermann doesn’t mean he isn’t doing something that FOX does every day… but you agree with them so of course they aren’t talking down to you… if you agreed with Olbermann, you wouldn’t think he was talking down to you.”
As far as the issues go, I agree with Olbermann just as often as I agree with O’Reilly. And I DISagree with Olbermann just as often as I DISagree with O’Reilly. On numerous occasions I have brought up, right here on this blog, O’Reilly talking down to his audience, how he’s taking his audience for granted, how he’s not a team player anymore, amongst other things.
You use tactics from straight out of propaganda 101:
#1 - The red herring: Presenting data that is irrelevant, and then claiming that it validates your argument or invalidates another’s argument. And
#2 - The unstated assumption: A concept that lacks credibility is repeatedly assumed or implied.
Basically, Nobody, you make assumptions about me, you make invalid, irrelevant and/or questionable statements, none based on facts; then you claim all of that makes you right, me wrong.
Nope. I can’t be spun. Not by you, not by O’Reilly, and not by Mister Keith Olbermann.
Comment by erljr — October 6, 2006 @ 12:08 pm
Phil, he also has posted positive stuff about FNC & CNN. But, the MSNBC stuff far outweighs the other cable news channels…sort of like the pro-FNC posters on here…
Comment by Terance — October 6, 2006 @ 12:13 pm
I also wonder if/when tanne and spud will decry the fact that The Man Who Ran From the Borax Mules and David Shuster intentionally cut 18 seconds from a report on Allen and his comments to make it look like the lady who made the claims was not who/what she was. Olby never apologized for it, and Shuster is still somehow on the airwaves.
Comment by eddiebear — October 6, 2006 @ 1:41 pm
And TVNewser and Inside Cable News ignored that, completely. I’m sure their argument will be “it came from a conservative source,” but all you have to do is look at the tape on the story on Hardball and Countdown and you’ll see the difference. It’s an egregious example of Keith Olbermann trying to advance a partisan political agenda, when he still goes around saying his show is fair.
Comment by Frank — October 6, 2006 @ 3:19 pm
Nobody, we need a reality check.
Please send links to the “hard core republican boards” that are supporting Olbermann.
Comment by cella — October 6, 2006 @ 3:30 pm
Frank,
It’s not ICN or TVN’s job to fact check Countdown any more than it’s our job to fact check any other program on any other channel. If it was my job my blog would be a clone of Olbermann Watch or any number of “Keith Sucks” sites out there.
I try very hard to steer clear from ideological arguments and like it or not this story’s “conspiracy” is based on an ideological argument. They may have cut that segment out because of a liberal frame of mind but then again they just as well may have done the edit for time sake or to keep the story flowing. You don’t know. I don’t know. And I’m not going to speculate…
Comment by Spud — October 6, 2006 @ 3:31 pm
It is definitely TVNewser’s job to fact-check Countdown if he is fact-checking The O’Reilly Factor, Nancy Grace, and other Olbermann competitors on a regular basis. Sometimes, Stelter has given a platform to OLBERMANN’S fact-checking of The O’Reilly Factor, for heaven’s sake. It’s the unbalance that is so striking. And remember, Stelter says that his site is fair to all networks and not biased. If he came out and said he doesn’t like Bill O’Reilly and Nancy Grace and loves Keith Olbermann, which is the unquestionable truth, I wouldn’t complain.
Comment by Frank — October 6, 2006 @ 4:06 pm
Also, Brian at TVN is the guy who somehow gets all the KO emails defending himself.
Comment by eddiebear — October 6, 2006 @ 5:22 pm