Keith Olbermann Blows Last Remaining Gasket

[DeepModem Mom]

TIME: May 27, 2008
Keith Olbermann Blows Last Remaining Gasket
Posted by James Poniewozik

So while we were away, Sen. Hillary Clinton apparently made an ill-advised reference to the RFK assassination (and the June timing thereof) by way of explaining her continuing run in the Democratic primary. And apparently Keith Olbermann had a thing or two to say about it....

(NOTE: Link to Olbermann's Special Comment at link to article, and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLNFsl130_Y)

The substance (or lack thereof) of the controversy notwithstanding...Olbermann is edging ever-closer to self-parody, or, worse, predictability. (As soon as the Clinton gaffe broke, blog commenters were wondering how ballistic he would go, and he obliged, and how.) Even if we concede his argument — that Clinton was at best callously and at worst intentionally suggesting she should stay in the race because Obama might be killed — every time he turns up the volume to 11 like this lately, he sounds like just another of the cable gasbags he used to be a corrective to.

But mostly his outburst reminds me of how the long Democratic primary has divided the left-of-center media (or at least, the media outlets with a left-of-center audience) into camps, like a bad divorce. Personalities and institutions that were once universally beloved by people who were sick of the Bush administration have either taken sides, or have been perceived to, splintering what used to be a unified and largely uncritical amen chorus.

Most of the perceived side-takers have been on the Obama side, as we've seen — it's not just Olbermann, Daily Kos and the Huffington Post, but even some viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (as sanctified as any center of anti-Bush comedy can be) have gotten alienated by the shows' attacks on Hillary Clinton. (I haven't sat down with a stopwatch to see if they mock her more than Obama, but they certainly mock her better.) There are fewer pro-Clinton equivalents, but Saturday Night Live, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and my old employer Salon.com have all taken criticism for carrying water for Hillary, from the same sorts of people who loved them when they were knocking Bush and Cheney.

As much hand-wringing as there's been over the strife in the Democratic primary, however, I have to wonder if these particular schisms aren't a good thing. It has to be healthy in some way to see that someone you used to cheer automatically is actually capable of believing something you disagree with. Shocking, I know! (For this reason, I only wish there were more anti-Obama outlets to balance the anti-Clinton ones, because the other half of the Democratic Party — not to mention the entire Republican party — could use this experience too.)...

Sometimes, maybe, the only way to really understand how your idols sound from the other side is to actually find yourself on the other side of them.

http://www.time-blog.com/tuned_in/2008/05/keith_olbermann_blows_last_rem.html

[Berry Cool]

1. Time magazine = Republican rag

James Poniewozik can bite me.

[gaiilonfong]

4. Ol' James is an ex Salon Hillary apologist

just like that HAG Joan Walsh

[mitchtv]

14. I see your still "helping" Obama

Joan Walsh put Tweety in his place last night. Your name calling is offensive, and will keep Democrats home on election day

[DeepModem Mom]

5. I knew this one would raise hackles -- except maybe the parts about...

folks one used to like suddenly being "dead to" one.

[Skittles]

2. he has become O'Reilly, the man he constantly makes fun of n/t

[movonne]

3. Bull shit...

[Miss Authoritiva]

6. Closer to this guy...

I think Olbermann is morphing into a cranked-up Earl Camembert, the local Melonville TV anchor on SCTV.



In all seriousness, the guy has come dangerously close to self-parody. I blame the fact that he has had to work live with Chris Matthews during all that primary coverage. There's just something about MSNBC. You start smart and end up stupid. In retrospect, thank God they didn't give Rachel Maddow her own show.

[Berry Cool]

9. Gosh, Miss Authoritiva, you sound amazingly like the guys on Olbermann Watch.

They've hated KO and been comparing him to Earl Camembert since Day One.

Wonder why THAT is.

Yeah, MSNBC is definitely being swiftboated by certain people...and it's all because they didn't ride the Freedom Train of the Goddess of Peace. So obvious.

[Miss Authoritiva]

16. Maybe they'll make me an honorary member.

I'm a Kucinich supporter, though.

Absolutely, MSNBC has been on my crap list for a long time -- excluding Olbermann's show. I would tune in promptly at 8pm every weeknight. Until recently, however. I think KO has lost his feel for things, gone into a batting slump or something. I think a lot of us instantly adored Olbermann when he started calling bullshit on Bush. Someone with his own show was calling bullshit on Bush! It will be interesting to see what Olbermann does when, in all likelihood, Barack Obama is president. Consider this, which is from an Atrios post, emphasis added.

It's true that these days Olbermann stands out on MSNBC for his "liberalism," but it's also important to note that his actual expressed liberalism is pretty narrow. He has a dislike and distrust of the Bush administration, which is shared by 70% of the public. He objects to overreach of executive powers, a subject largely ignored by the rest of the media. And... that's it. It's not the nightly "abortion, gay marriage, and give money to poor people" hour. Keith isn't advocating, or even covering, a large set of what I would consider to be "liberal issues." He approaches the daily news with a somewhat liberal sensibility, but that's it.

70% of the country doesn't like George Bush, and one hour per night 5 days per week is about the only time that perspective is on the teevee, except perhaps a few curmudgeonly outbursts by Jack Cafferty and those precious seconds when Pat Buchanan isn't talking over Rachel Maddow.

It's not a question of "swiftboating" Olbermann, it's a question of rethinking just what it is that Olbermann does and does not do on his show.

[Sinistrous]

7. Welcome to the swiftboating of MSNBC.

God! What putrid swill this piece is.

:puke:

[Blue_In_AK]

8. You can call it "putrid swill" if you want,

but this writer is not the only one who has been put off by Olbermann lately. I used to watch him religiously, even recording him if I was going to be away from home, but he has gone so "over the top" with Hillary hatred that I just can't watch him anymore -- and I'm not even a Hillary supporter. I'm not in love with Obama either (although of course I will vote for him), so maybe that's why I'm not so enthralled with Keith's Obamania.

Hopefully, after the convention or after Hillary concedes, whichever comes first, Keith will get back to doing what he does best, slamming the real enemy, George, Dick and the Republican machine. I've missed that Keith.

[Sinistrous]

11. What a pity that Hillary getting her just due offends your

exaggerated sense of moral rectitude.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. LOL.

I love you guys in GD: P. Always an answer for everything. :rofl:

[One Sweet World]

10. Olbermann has completely lost it

I used to be a fan of Olbermann, but it's true that his whole shtick has just become predictable and stale. \

Mr. Olbermann -- keep it fresh and honest like you used to do, not stale and hyper like you do now.

[notfullofit]

13. Me too but now it's just too predictable. nt

[mitchtv]

15. I'm sure he's drooling for Press Secretary

Will he end up bitter, like Tweety, when he doesn't get it?