Keith Olbermann Takes On … Everything

MSNBC News Anchor Is Ruffling Conservative Feathers With His Show "Countdown"

(CBS) 
The nightly audio and video assault includes his pick of "The Worst Person in the World" — frequently his arch enemy, conservative Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly. There is also "Oddball," the day's catch of weird video. Whipsawing to the serious, he ends each show with a reminder of the unpopular war in Iraq, and borrows the somber sign-off of his hero Edward R. Murrow — "Good night and good luck" — and then seems to make fun of the whole exercise when he crumples his notes and throws them at the camera.

"Countdown" was flying beneath the ratings radar for several years until last August when a speech by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent Olbermann into a fury.

"He said, essentially, that anyone who was critical of the war on terror, or the war in Iraq, or, indeed, of the administration's policies, was equivalent to those who appeased Hitler in the '30s," he said. "I'm not a big fan of being called a Nazi appeaser, or even a parallel to a Nazi appeaser. I took that personally."

He was mad as hell and not going to take it any more, he said. And he didn't. He wrote what became the first of his "special comments."

For liberals, desperate for a white hot star to answer cable's popular conservatives, this was a gift. But Olbermann insists he's just saying what a lot of people really think.

"If a Democrat did those things, I would be out there just as ferociously," Olbermann said. "I don't think the Democrats are automatically right. I have many personal conservative views, I have many personal liberal views. I'm concerned about the freedoms that we say that we are protecting."

Not that such weighty concerns ever are allowed to crowd out sports. He continues a daily hour-long radio show on ESPN, and away from the microphones, baseball still rules. Olbermann, who began collecting at four, is one of the country's foremost authorities on baseball cards and is a consultant to the Topps baseball card company. He's got cards that even they have never seen before. His collection dates back to 1863.

But "Countdown"'s popularity has made it the priority today, and Olbermann shows no sign of pulling his punches. Spencer threw out a few names to see how he would react.

Alberto Gonzales:

"I'd really like to see his diploma," Olbermann said.

Laura Bush:

"Very nice lady. In a knife fight, I think she'd get me. I think she'd kill me. She's surprisingly capable," he said.

Paris Hilton:

"If she didn't exist we'd have to make her up," he said.

Hillary Clinton:

"I think she went to — to 'Improve Hillary Clinton' boot camp in the first six weeks of this year," Olbermann said. "I think she's trying real hard"

Dick Cheney:

"He scares the living crap out of me," he said.

Which may be how many people feel about Keith Olbermann.

[williamb34]

What liberal media? I only wish the good guys did dominate the media half as much as some people claim they do. People like Keith Olbermann are a small step in beginning to redress the imbalance. Kudos to him for having the guts to say what so many other people are thinking, and to MSNBC for carrying him. And if he's so far behind his rival on Fox in the ratings, why is O'Reilly so worked up over him? I think Bill's more concerned about Keith than he's willing to let on.

[onit2day]

Monkfellow your a biased ill informed idiot. MSM is owned by and controlled by the GOP and the right wing conservatives and hardly gave Clinton a pass. They hounded the hell out of him continuously. Whitwater, Lewinski, trashed the oval office, stole furniture, God the list goes on and on. If Clinton would have done 1/10 what Bush has gotten a pass on the libraries would be filled with yellow journalism. The hate filled rantings of bigots like Beck and O'Reilley (Katrina victims are scum, hate 9/11 victims, Pelosi plane, the kidnapped boy in Missouri must have liked his situation of rape etc) these men have no morals or dignity and belong at the end of the bar. You obviously see and hear only what you want to support your bias and scowl at any attempt at real truth finding or democratic opinion aimed at standing up for our constitutional freedoms. Olbermann is the first to challenge these fascist authoritative personalities that call you an enemy if you disagree with them. He has exposed this gauntlet of gutter journalism that dominates fox news and the Moonie press. Beck is an obscenity. You'd have to be a person whose main focus in life was to figure out how much saliva to drool to be unaware of the hateful racist bigoted opinions and smears he spews out at every show. Just watch several shows in a row if your missing it. Keith is that breath of fresh spring air that inspires hope that America might once again breathe in equality,virtue, freedom and truth.

[onit2day]

Monkfellow your a biased ill informed idiot. MSM is owned by and controlled ny the GOP and the right wing conservatives and hardly gave Clinton a pass. They hounded the hell out of him continuously. Whitwater, Lewinski, trashed the oval office, stole furniture, God the list goes on and on. If Clinton would have done 1/10 what Bush has gotten a pass on the libraries would be filled with yellow journalism. The hate filled rantings of bigots like Beck and O'Reilley (Katrina victims are scum, hate 9/11 victims, Pelosi plane, the kidnapped boy in Missouri must have liked his situation of rape etc) these men have no morals or dignity and belong at the end of the bar. You obviously see and hear only what you want to support your bias and scowl at any attempt at real truth finding or democratic opinion aimed at standing up for our constitutional freedoms. Olbermann is the first to challenge these fascist authoritative personalities that call you an enemy if you disagree with them. He has exposed this gauntlet of gutter journalism that dominates fox news and the Moonie press. Beck is an obscenity. You'd have to be a person whose main focus in life was to figure out how much saliva to drool to be unaware of the hateful racist bigoted opinions and smears he spews out at every show. Just watch several shows in a row if your missing it. Keith is that breath of fresh spring air that inspires hope that America might once again breathe in equality,virtue, freedom and truth.

[onit2day]

Monkfellow your a biased ill informed idiot. MSM is owned by and controlled ny the GOP and the right wing conservatives and hardly gave Clinton a pass. They hounded the hell out of him continuously. Whitwater, Lewinski, trashed the oval office, stole furniture, God the list goes on and on. If Clinton would have done 1/10 what Bush has gotten a pass on the libraries would be filled with yellow journalism. The hate filled rantings of bigots like Beck and O'Reilley (Katrina victims are scum, hate 9/11 victims, Pelosi plane, the kidnapped boy in Missouri must have liked his situation of rape etc) these men have no morals or dignity and belong at the end of the bar. You obviously see and hear only what you want to support your bias and scowl at any attempt at real truth finding or democratic opinion aimed at standing up for our constitutional freedoms. Olbermann is the first to challenge these fascist authoritative personalities that call you an enemy if you disagree with them. He has exposed this gauntlet of gutter journalism that dominates fox news and the Moonie press. Beck is an obscenity. You'd have to be a person whose main focus in life was to figure out how much saliva to drool to be unaware of the hateful racist bigoted opinions and smears he spews out at every show. Just watch several shows in a row if your missing it. Keith is that breath of fresh spring air that inspires hope that America might once again breathe in equality,virtue, freedom and truth.

[onit2day]

Monkfellow your a biased ill informed idiot. MSM is owned by and controlled ny the GOP and the right wing conservatives and hardly gave Clinton a pass. They hounded the hell out of him continuously. Whitwater, Lewinski, trashed the oval office, stole furniture, God the list goes on and on. If Clinton would have done 1/10 what Bush has gotten a pass on the libraries would be filled with yellow journalism. The hate filled rantings of bigots like Beck and O'Reilley (Katrina victims are scum, hate 9/11 victims, Pelosi plane, the kidnapped boy in Missouri must have liked his situation of rape etc) these men have no morals or dignity and belong at the end of the bar. You obviously see and hear only what you want to support your bias and scowl at any attempt at real truth finding or democratic opinion aimed at standing up for our constitutional freedoms. Olbermann is the first to challenge these fascist authoritative personalities that call you an enemy if you disagree with them. He has exposed this gauntlet of gutter journalism that dominates fox news and the Moonie press. Beck is an obscenity. You'd have to be a person whose main focus in life was to figure out how much saliva to drool to be unaware of the hateful racist bigoted opinions and smears he spews out at every show. Just watch several shows in a row if your missing it. Keith is that breath of fresh spring air that inspires hope that America might once again breathe in equality,virtue, freedom and truth.

[johnleighs]

OH how the FOX crowd hates to have someone champion the real fair and balanced views. They seem to hate what they can not control and instead of any honest debate, do what their media gods do: belittle, dismiss, call names, and bore us to death.

I for one love to listen to Keith. He actually makes sense. The Fox crowd makes noise. You can sense the high pitch sound of their voices rising day after day since the election. They do not get it. America woke up to the noise of their rhetoric and judged it as empty. They can not seem to believe that their voice can not drown out reason and thoughtful consideration.

But what seems to drive them crazy is that we are not living in fear as they do. Fear can not set you free. And the day will come when we will be free of their war mongering, hatefilled lies and biased news.

I am sending Keith and Air America money to keep doing what they are doing...

[petnathan]

monkfellow is a clown.

[monkfellow]

when DON'T we hear about it? Negative press about Murdoch is as abundant as ants at a picnic. The question may be, if the viewing public is satisfied with the end product, what does it matter?
But, hey, considering that some of the richest people own mega-media properties, including the New York Times-Washington Post, the L.A. Times and Gannett, with dozens of newspapers and U.S.A. Today,well, they get a pass because they're secular-progressive and liberal in content.Most of the media owned by the above gave the Clinton's a free pass during their entire monarchy. Cattle futures, no problem. Access to the Lincoln bedroom at the White House , no problem, IRS files in some off-room at the White House, no problem, Vince Foster, no problem, Whitewater, no problem. The list goes on, but I digress.
At least you have the foresight to point out that FOX Network and FOX News Channel are separate entities.

[homespunlady]

Is News Corp LIBERAL? I was floored checking your reference Australian with Chinese, Saudi connections and a list a mile long of everything from MySpace, Direct TV, Cable satellite access to tiny local stations and more! Amazing. Huge Bragging points for the hidden Conservative Agenda I'd think. No wonder the Brits gripe about media control by this guy! Too bad we never hear about it. Wonder why?

[monkfellow]

Given that the committed left owns the mainstream media...I will concede your point.

[triassic-2009]

monkfellow:

Are you totally whack? The neocons OWN Fox news. A guy like Olbermann is just a small counterweight to that influence.

[monkfellow]

However, I will keep your concerns in mind as we watch George "Mr. Silver Connection" Soros play power-grabber through his involvement in "moveon.org".

[monkfellow]

uh, no that was the "Washington Times" owned by the Rev. Moon. Please get that straight. Rupert Murdoch may be many things to many people, but he's not a Moonie.

[homespunlady]

There are more viewers than you think. Fox news hmm... wasn't one of the biggest behind the scenes owners the head of the Moonies? LOVED having a Korean owning our ranting raving conservative circus channel. Haven't heard if he sold out yet but I'm sure when he can't funnel money through it and his "religion" into his American Constitution busting politics he'll buy up more of some other media/consevative politician.

[monkfellow]

So nice of the mainstream media to give a free plug to a goon who has a thimbleful of viewers, especially compared to the e-v-i-l FOX News.
I love it when the MSM gives these characters free publicity,kind of like when those wonderful folks at NBC Today gave a free ride to Air America,and we know what a smashing success THAT'S become (hello, bankruptcy court!)
Olberman is yesterday's sports news,not to mention part of an outfit where the rats are leavin' the sinkin' ship.
May we look forward to a free 7 minute plug for Glenn Beck? I wouldn't ask them to even bother with O'Reilly. He sure doesn't need THEM!