Boy, was I wrong.
Lately, Olbermann has been one of the most passionate and articulate critics of George W. Bush, focusing in particular on the fiasco that is our involvement in Iraq. When many other media figures seem to shy away from asking the tough questions, or accept unquestioningly Karl Rove's latest spin, Olbermann sees through the bullshit. For the past months, I've been following his "special comments," delivered at the end of his Countdown TV show, and reproduced on MSNBC.com's website. Take Thursday night's commentary, for example, responding to the recent presidential address on Eye-wrack:
Mr. Bush, this is madness.
You have lost the military. You have lost the Congress to the Democrats. You have lost most of the Iraqis. You have lost many of the Republicans. You have lost our allies.
You are losing the credibility, not just of your presidency, but more importantly of the office itself.
And most imperatively, you are guaranteeing that more American troops will be losing their lives, and more families their loved ones. You are guaranteeing it!
This becomes your legacy, sir: How many of those you addressed last night as your “fellow citizens” you just sent to their deaths.
Olbermann is one of the few voices in the mainstream media who consistently reminds us that the emperor, Emperor George Dubya Bush, has no clothes. I just hope Olbermann keeps his taxes in pristine order, because I have a sneaking suspicion that the mother of all IRS audits is in his near future.
You're absolutely right about Keith Olberman--and he's been bringing attention to Bush's incompetence for a much longer time than any other journalists. He's been courageous, and thank goodness for him. Many a night he's been the only sane guy talking politics.---Enjoying your blog....
ReplyDeleteWhat a sham this whole thing has been. I wouldn't be surprised if you got an audit youself, along with any of us who comment. ;)
ReplyDeleteKeith Olbermann is indeed the Man.
ReplyDeleteI think Carol's right- especially after reading an article today that says Dick Cheney thinks the CIA or FBI's reading the credit reports of ordinary citizens to "protect" the nation at large is neither illegal nor immoral.
I heard a report the other day that said that the majority of the members of the armed services who were polled, think the war is a mess, and we should never have gotten involved. The commentator said that it was the first time in history that results like that have come from the military.
ReplyDeleteDu[m]bya. Yep, he's made his mark.
That about says it all.
ReplyDeleteAnother person who's right on the mark is Thomas Friedman; check out his last column in the NYT.
ReplyDeleteLiz
I've been a huge fan of Olberman ever since he took on the religious right.
ReplyDelete"The love of language is the love of truth, and this brings one into conflict with authority, since power employs deceit and is so fond of it..." (Garrison Keillor)
Olberman is a writer who loves language in this deep sense and will be damned before he'll let it be debased without protest.
Molly Ivins has been a critic of Dub since the beginning; she wasn't a fan of his father either. And there is always Stephen Colbert.
ReplyDeleteI just watched "The Fog of War" and the similarities between Johnson and Dub are frightening. You would think that our politicians would learn from history; but then I'm not sure Dub can learn anything.
I became the biggest Olberman fan on 9-11-06 when his special commentary from Ground Zero spoke so eloquently what I know so many of us feel.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to a YouTube of it and it is well worth watching.
If I were single, I'd hunt him down and marry him for this commentary alone!
Enjoy.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=W-HjOT0BUa4
ReplyDeleteoops!
Thanks for the link, Sheila. I happened to catch that one on the day he gave it (which is rare, because we're usually arguing with people to get them to go to bed at around that time). You're right -- it's well worth watching. I'm going to stay tuned after the State of the Union address.
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