I've been meaning to talk about Keith Olberman for a while. He used to be reasonably fair, and refreshingly willing to call out a politician or organization. His early commentaries on Bush's failures were a welcome bit of truth on the air.
Well he has steadily moved from newsman/interviewer with an occasional editorial opinion to a straight shill for the Democratic party. Or perhaps more properly, he's so anti-Republican that it's shameless and nakedly unprofessional.
Tonight on his Countdown program, Olberman asked his guest if because of his rhetoric supporting Georgia over the last few months John McCain should be held responsible for Russia's invasion of Georgia.
Seriously, he accused John McCain of causing the Russians to invade another country. I think it's a firing offense.
5 comments:
This is a totally flat, serious question. Do you also think the entire Fox News staff as well as CNN's Glenn Beck should also be fired?
I assume the answer is yet. (And FWIW, I have never happened to catch Olberman's show, although everyone I know tells me I would love it.)
Ug. I actually assume the answer is yes. "Yet" would be a confusing response.
Do you also think the entire Fox News staff as well as CNN's Glenn Beck should also be fired?
No, because the entire point of Glenn Beck's show is for him to be a provocative, uninformed idiot.
This is the same thing as saying that Olbermann should not be fired if he occasionally points out that something Bush did was dangerous or outrageous. If Peter Jennings does it, he should be fired. Because being a news anchor and being an interviewing moderator are different jobs.
MSNBC hired Olbermann to interview people and issue some commentary, not to flat out accuse candidates of causing the deaths of thousands of people.
FoxNews hired Glenn Beck to call Democrats stupid and to insinuate that they are criminally treasonous and to occasionally say something so anti-science as to be laughable and dangerous.
Olbermann is not Peter Jennings. He definitely should be held to the "Beck" standard of, well we can just call it "opinion journalism," or "commentary," or whatever. Olbermann clearly has a point of view and he is no less entitled to that than the demagogues of the right.
Also, with regard to Georgia, Olbermann has a point, though indirect. I've tried to be interested and to care about Georgia, but I just can't. But from what I understand, the Georgian government was given reason to believe they would have US support in south Ossetia, and if McCain's staff played a role in encouraging their ill-advised venture there, then, yes, he should answer for that. Which is not to say he's responsible, but his judgment and that of his team is fair game.
also, how cool is it that my iPhone's spell check recognized "Ossetia" as requiring capitalization?
Weirdly, I looked up Georgia to review its geography on google maps, and it was totally blank. No detail at all: roads, cities, nothing. It all ends at the border. Strange.
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