Attacking Olbermann, attacking the truth

If we've learned one thing in recent years, it's that no one is safe when the Republican Party has its hands on the levers of power. The first casualty, of course, has been the truth, mainly in the form of a servile press corps more interested in access than excellence. And, while the Fourth Estate has largely abdicated its role as check on unchecked power, the Bush administration has been a willing accomplice, its pat on the back being the last shove necessary to send the press over the cliff's edge.

Those few still unwilling to toe the party line, those pernicious pests who have decided that the truth remains important, have proven to be an even larger target to the right wing. Consider the baseless attacks made against people like Seymour Hersh, outlets like Air America and organizations like Media Matters. And now Keith Olbermann.

To be truthful, Olbermann has been a thorn in the Republicans' side for quite some time. But, thanks to an assist from gossip merchant Lloyd Grove, it appears the right wing is poised to renew its fight on the present-day Edward R. Murrow, one of the final obstacles standing between America and a tin-pot dictatorship.

The furor began earlier this week, when Grove, writing in the New York Daily News, led off a piece with an item titled "It's 'Putdown With Keith Olbermann'". In the story, he offered new MSNBC new chief Dan Abrams some unsolicited advice: Put out the fire between Olbermann and the third-rate grief chaser Rita Cosby. Grove then cited a months-old e-mail between Olbermann and a "fan" - who submitted the missive under condition of anonymity - in which the "Countdown" host said of Cosby, "Rita's nice, but dumber than a suitcase of rocks." Cosby's response was a cryptic, "Keith got it wrong. I'm not that nice." Maybe so, but you're not dumber than a suitcase of rocks?

Back to Grove, the columnist himself became the story Thursday when, in his column, he reported forwarding additional e-mails to MSNBC management in an effort to put Olbermann on the defensive. The messages in question featured the senders claiming that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Olbermann's "hero". One response? Wrote Olbermann, "Hey, save the oxygen for somebody whose brain can use it. Kill yourself." Grove also cited other Olbermann responses, which included such statements as "Given how far you are from knowing your a- from your elbow about my industry, you couldn't be stupider, wronger, or dumber ...", "Go - your mother." and "You 'Americans' still watching that evil f- O'Reilly?"

Once he forwarded Olbermann's messages to his management, the anchor issued an apology. "I apologize to anyone who might take offense at my part of this correspondence," he said. "It goes without saying that I should not have replied to these abusive and hateful e-mails, but I wonder how many of us could receive literally hundreds of them questioning our patriotism, religion and ethnic origin, without succumbing to the natural wish to confront such hate?" Grove then took a slight at Olbermann's ratings relative his Fox News competitor, Bill O'Reilly. And, with that, the next right-wing crusade has apparently begun.

This is how it works with the Ann Coulter Republicans. Olbermann says things in e-mails that would pass as civilized conversation among most Republicans and, all of a sudden, he's the target. He'll no doubt join the Ward Churchills, Michael Moores and Cindy Sheehans of the world on the list of approved right-wing targets every Democrat must answer to before beginning any discussion. Though he was responding to no-doubt hate-filled invective, now he's the bad one. He's the one who must answer to his critics, not people like Glenn Beck. Or Bill Bennett. Or O'Reilly.

Think about the spotlight someone like Olbermann is under. As one of the sole sane voices in the media, he's the admitted target of right-wing rancor. I see my fair share of Republican "compassion" in the form of angry, insult-laden comments and messages. Now, multiply that to Olbermann's profile and you can imagine how vociferously the forces of hate fight the truth. Day in and day out, it's a safe bet that Olbermann's inbox is filled with a series of e-mails that would no doubt outpace any response of his Grove printed.

And that's the thing. Olbermann was responding. Responding to a string of messages clearly intended to bait the intelligent, composed anchor into a less civil response. But how much attention is being paid to the fact that most of what Olbermann said came only after being lured into such a reply? What Grove printed came from two antagonistic individuals who wrote Olbermann using tired, right-wing rhetoric, clearly looking for a fight. When they got it, they ran, like cowards, to Grove, who gladly guaranteed their anonymity. Why? Because, who cares who does the pushing when someone famous, someone in your crosshairs, does the pushing back? So much for fair. So much for balanced.

Ask yourself what's really at play here. This type of "Daddy, look what the big, mean man said to me" gotcha journalism, while typical, seems like only a means to an end in this case. The end? Either make Olbermann, not what he covers, the story, or force MSNBC management to make a choice between the besieged anchor and the less harmful, yet lower-rated, dumber-than-a-suitcase-of-rocks Cosby. Could this be a coordinated effort to get one of the last true journalists off the air? Perhaps, because it's quite likely that some people are far more upset about what Olbermann's saying on the air than off it.

How could you, as a Republican, like what Olbermann has to say on a nightly basis? Being confronted with the truth by a journalist has to be, while rare these days, an unsettling occurrence for the right wing. Having your dismal record thrown right back at you by someone far more intelligent than you surely wears on a person. Couple that with the oversized Republican persecution complex and the Republicans' seeming inability to change the channel and it's clear that the Nuisance Generation has yet again sprung into action. And this time, they're attacking one of our once-great nation's last, best voices.

by anyone except for the a$$wipe who originally started this snark fest? I will wait until Keith returns next week and get the real story. And I am sure I will love the Keithmeister's smack down.

These guys are trying to give O'Lielly some talking points to counter Keith's unrelenting calling out of O'Lielly's BS. They are manufacturing an "outrage." And just for the record - if everything they say Keith said is true - when is the disagreement? Gravel Gerty is dumb and she didn't disagree herself.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Welcome to DU! :hi:

:loveya:, KO!

in the Olbermann group.

I can't really take the time to respond now, so I'm replying so I can find it again!

1. I give Cosby credit--it was a funny response, along the lines of the old joke:

Person a: You're a nasty, shallow, stupid, ugly Republican.
Person b: How dare you call me "shallow"!

2. The fact that they are attacking Keith means that they see him as a powerful threat. And they should. He is more clever by far than anyone on "their side." And his ratings particularly in the valued demographic groups are ascending as rapidly as O'Liely's are falling.

3. Controversy (and the free publicity it generates) can be your friend. Just ask Ann Coulter.

Keith will have the last laugh. And make us laugh along with him. Don't you worry.

true...You got 2 wonder about all the free air time nbc has given 'she whose name must not be spoken (SWNMNBS) - 'Today', 'Tonight Show' - as well as then reporting on the same....what is the war profiteering parent afraid of?

is - MAN HANDS... I think you know who I'm talking about... lol






www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <--- Top Anti-Bush, Pro-Dem 06 08 stickers & shirts!

not the hands of a woman. Someone should tell ANNorexic that the "Heroin Chic" look went out a LONGGGGGG time ago. Of course, when you're busy running your mouth non-stop and having the putrid taste of crap in it to boot, it's hard to get anything down it (other than most of Washington's Conservative manhood, that is). Then again, most alcoholics are rail thin and mean tempered, aren't they? f

........I don't know where I've been.........I just heard about this whole thing today! I did hear about KO's comment where he said Rita was about as interesting as a bag of rocks. I never watch her show simply because I don't care for the kinds of stories she talks about but I gotta give her credit for her response to Keith's comment!

I still have my doubts about whether or not Keith actually wrote the comments they're saying he wrote........about the guy should stop using so much oxygen and kill himself and the FU remark. It's just not like Keith to say something like that. I've seen him take people down with much more wit than that and I don't really think he would stoop to that level anyway!

But, we'll see if he mentions it this week.

If I were to guess who might have done it............I would guess it might be someone connected to O'Reilly. Either an employee or a fan. Remember, it wasn't too long ago when O'Reilly was trying to get MSNBC to cancel Keith and bring back Donahue. I guess O'Reilly had better ratings when he was on opposite Donahue.

Even though, yeah, I agree Rita was trying to make a joke. I think that's about as witty as she gets, though.

I hope Keith stays strong. America needs him.

why we ALWAYS have to do the apologizing?

When Michelle Malkin says DUers write mean things about her and to her, the spotlight is shown on us for being uncivilized, hate-fueled cretins and we're expected to apologize to her for her feelings being hurt.
When people -- admittedly antagonistic people -- write mean things to KO, he's forced to apologize.

I saw no mention in Grove's column about the people who were taunting him.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

She's just a filthy mouthed troll anyway...

Why is Lloyd Grove doing the dirty work for the Republican trolls now?

This is beyond belief.

:mad:





---------------------------------------------

Also that his assistant was named the Worst that night.

Keith's transcript:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11823963/

Tonight‘s runner-up, Lloyd Grove, gossip columnist of “The New York Daily News.” There‘s a lot more on the COUNTDOWN show blog, “Bloggermann” on how he took quotes from a TV interview out of context so egregiously that the editor of my fourth grade class newspaper would have called him on it.

Just a brief example here so you know what we‘re dealing with. I did an interview in which, among other things, I complimented NBC and its owners G.E. for never letting anyone‘s personal politics get in the way of news. But Mr. Grove wrote that I quote, “deeply distrust the top brass at NBC and its parent company, General Electric, judging by his interview with C-SPAN‘s grand inquisitor Brian Lamb.”

He pulled this quote out of context. Read this, “There are people I know in the hierarchy of NBC, the company, and GE, the company, who do not like to see the current presidential administration criticized at all.”

Here‘s what I actually said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLBERMANN: The protection of money at the center of everything, including news, to the degree that it is now, is that as long as you make them money, they don‘t care what it is you put on the air. They don‘t care. There are people I know in the hierarchy of NBC, the company, and G.E. the company, who do not like to see the current presidential administration criticized at all.

On the other hand, if they look at my ratings and my ratings are improved and there is criticism of the president of the United States, they‘re happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GROVE: So I don‘t distrust anybody here. I trust them because unlike at least one other company that owns a news operation which I could mention, they don‘t worry about the politics.

But our winner tonight, Katherine Thompson. She writes the column with Lloyd Grove. Or he‘s her assistant, maybe, I‘m not sure.

She used to work here at MSNBC. And when she left nobody cried. Now she‘s writing stuff, inaccurate, journalistically reckless stuff about people that work here and at MSNBC as well. The conflict of interest is as bad as anything I‘ve seen in journalism. Katherine Thompson of the “New York Daily News.” Today‘s “Worst Person in the World.”

And here's the NY Daily News link to Grove's follow-up column:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/399805p-338748c.html

Grove launched the preemptive strike by taking words out of context and make it look as if KO was an incompetent idiot. That's when KO put Grove in his "worst person" list.





-------------------------------------

I've never received anything but polite and professional responses from him to my e-mails. Of course, I don't begin by calling him an ass or a Nazi. Maybe that's got something to do with it.

This is obviously a smear job. I base that not only on the players in the drama, but on the abundance of "evidence" suddenly forthcoming, and the voracity of the attacks. In true wimp fashion, they have chosen a week he's on vacation. Cowards.

As a reminder: all are welcome in the KO/Countdown group for nightly blogging and kibbitzing. Follow the link in my signature.

Thanks for the post. Great job. :thumbsup:

You can't buy that kind of advertisement. Remember what they say, "There's no such thing as bad press." Watch for ratings to spike on Monday as people tune in to see how he responds. A few of the newbies who tune in out of curiosity will end up regular viewers.

If MSNBC even looks like they're going to bend under the pressure.

Keith's ratings are too good!! It's one of the best rated shows on MSNBC! They wouldn't dare fire him over this little thing.........

Keith should have responded thusly: "When the likes of Ann Coulter, who makes sport of attacking 9/11 widows, is no longer trotted out on morning television as an honored guest, I will reconsider my occasional sharp retorts to those that deal in Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh's brand of hateful discourse. Until then, I remain unapologetic in my responses to personal attacks."

STOP apologizing!!! If anything.. people like Leno, NBC, ABC, CNN, etc. should be apologizing to their viewers for allowing hate mongers like Ann Coulter on their shows UNCHALLENGED, and for giving hateful pricks like Glenn Beck their own damn show.

I find it hard to believe it would get any attention.

Keith is the closest we will ever get to Edward R Morrow

It's probably not a good idea to put down colleagues, but geesh

put up an MSNBC poll and ask if people think Rita is intelligent.

I'm willing to bet the results would be lopsided to the rocks winning.

I live in an extremely conservative area and haven't met one person yet who will admit to watching his program.

that in his profile he spouts off "let's all pray (you too liberals)" and other idiocy, and says he's been "hannitized" (barf, so sacrilegious), and is a bill o'reilly listener so go screw yourself you pinko commie liberals or some crap like that......

that's who watches him... nut cases. they're out there, in about a 33-38% minority, God help us!

lol...

his user name is OoOoONoDataOoOoO if you want to go to pogo.com and look at his profile and write him a message like I did when he started telling me that I was going to hell for being gay and I said, "how dare you judge me, I am a Christian, don't need to prove it to you, and your hatred is shameful, so shut up!", he said I was speaking blasphemy, then left and everyone told me 'what a weirdo!", I of course said, yep - another bush fanatic.

mostly of the geriatric set who seem to remember a fantasy world of yore when everyone resembled the Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver) family, politicians NEVER lied and everything was a garden of eden here in the United States. In short, people bordering on, or in the grip of, dementia. His audience is literally dying away and isn't being replaced by new, fresh blood. They know better. They know O'Lielly is nothing but a pompous gas-bag. So O'Lielly's audience will continue to dwindle and Olberman's will continue to expand. The "good old days" really weren't all that good. I know, I was there. ;)

...and he was talking about his bad ratings. And he said his audience (O'Reilly's) was literally dying off!! haha

Yeah, the good old days weren't all that good. People still basically did the same things we do now........they just didn't talk about it! Dysfunctional behavior? Yes, it was around but people seemed to have the idea that it would go away if no one talked about it. Surprise!! That stuff doesn't go away if you try to ignore it.........it just gets worse!

Lloyd Grove isnt even worth paying attention to. If Grove wants attention, let him do something really newsworthy, like prove that he has an ounce of creativity somewhere in his body.

Here is the email I sent Grove.

"Here in Texas we have a word for guys like you. Actually, we have more than a few words for guys like you, none of them fit to repeat, so I will refrain from name calling and tell you that it does not take much courage to wait until Keith Olberman is on a one week vacation from Countdown to get your petty revenge by revealing to the world that a child of the sixties (gasp!) who lives in New York City uses an occasional four letter word when he is angry.

"I note that your byline says your make your point with dry wit. Then you can see the humor in the juxtaposition of Keith’s beloved visage at the top of the page with your own just a single column away. Study the two images well. One man has legions of followers, many of them women who hang upon his every word. When he uses words to reduce his enemies to hollow men dressed in tattered remnants of their finery, his fans cheer him on. They do not expect Anderson Cooper in NOLA. They expect a pit bull wearing wire rimmed glasses, a twinkle in his eyes, a sarcastic word rolling off his tongue.

" The moral here is you do not destroy Mike Tyson’s career by revealing that he is lethal weapon. You do not tarnish W. by pointing out his grammatical errors. If you want to smear W., call him a liar. If you want to bring down Tyson, call him a pansy.

"You would have done better to fabricate photos of Olberman at a KKK meeting wearing a white hood, toting a cross.

"Dry, maybe. Witty, no."

How on earth does a guy like Olberman have time to respond to e-mails that he gets? He must receive like thousands. I assumed he had assistants to read them and give him a daily summary. Unfortunately, this story is just going to increase the volume of flaky mail, because people will say "Hot damn! Keith reads his own mail! Maybe if I send him email, he will send me a response!" He really shouldnt be doing that. (Yeah, I know the KOEB is booing me, but hey, he is a journalist before he is an icon.)

OK, OK Obligatory floaty heart :loveya:

To the MSNBC Powers-that-Be,

I understand that NBC (and all its affiliates) are a corporation. I understand that corporations are about their bottom-line.

However, MSNBC and its counterparts/competitors are news outlets. The keyword being NEWS. News is about reporting the facts, not repeating right-wing (nor left-wing) talking points. News is about "telling it how it is" rather than distorting, misleading, and/or downplaying things that are not complimentary to the Bush Administration and the Republican party.

The bottom-line for news is the truth, not profits. Journalists report the facts. Stenographers report what they are told and there is a stark contrast between the two. MSNBC's Chris Matthews is a stenographer and a Bush Administration cheerleader. FoxNews' Bill O'Reilly is a stenographer and a Bush Administration cheerleader - not to mention a liar as well.

News is about hard-nose journalism and the integrity to report it fairly - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Currently, Keith Olbermann appears to be one of the only journalists on your (or any mainstream media) staff willing to do that.

We already have FoxNews playing the role of modern-day Pravda to the Bush Administration. The majority of news outlets (including MSNBC) have ceased reporting news and have followed the example of the Rupert Murdoch model since George W. Bush was installed as president. The country has been a shambles ever since.

It is the patriotic duty of every citizen of the United States to scrutinize the actions of our elected officials. It is the duty of journalists to report those actions to inform the public - regardless of party affiliation. Currently, it appears that Keith Olbermann is the last journalist standing and, consequently, drawing the ire of Republican stenographers like Bill O'Reilly and Lloyd Grove for doing his job - and theirs.

Keith Olbermann is the only reason I watch MSNBC.

If you have made it to the bottom of this letter, then I greatly thank you for your time.

The right wingers at work were passing around (via e-mail) that article that was critical of Olbermann. I thought Olbermann's responses in those e-mails were quite reasonable, since he was being called "a friend to Al Qaeda". How was he supposed to react?

I say to all republicans:
Go fuck your mother!

While the comparison to Edward R. Murrow, and Seymour Hersh are a bit too far, so are the hateful attacks on Keith, and the demands for an apology from those who are all too quick to spew the vile.
An apology is called for, but one that raises the level of discourse, that calls out a challenge to facts and truth. An apology that rises to the level of a Edward R. Murrow, using the facts of a Seymour Hersh, to accuse the present day Joe McCarthys.
I know you've got it in you Keith. GO FOR IT!

This is a non issue. This LLoyd guy wants PUBLICITY for himself. He wants to coattails Olberman's achievements. Too bad for him. Let him do some real work.

Olberman should concentrate on exposing hypocrisy and corruption and lies in our government (and please, please, please less baseball).

Re: the guys who sent Olberman's private emails to Lloyd, they remind me of sissy boys who go running to mommy when their feelings get hurt. What a bunch of pathetic losers. The right wing is always claiming that left wingers are wimps, but apparently the right wing is full of sensitive, whiny types whose tender feelings are easily bruised, poor dears. :sarcasm:

THEY HAVE NO BRAINS! THEY HAVE NO IDEAS! THEY HAVE NO ISSUES! SO THEY ATTACK OUR GOOD PROGRESSIVE PEOPLE!

THEY ATTACK KEITH! THEY ATTACK GORE! THEY ATTACK ANYONE WHO THEY ARE AFRAID OF, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING ELSE!

THEY ARE A "ONE-NOTE," "NO-BRAIN," PARTY WHICH KNOWS NOTHING BUT "SPIN," CHEAT, AND ATTACK, AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE "ON" TO THEM!

IT WILL NOT WORK ANYMORE!

KEITH HAS THE HIGHEST RATINGS ON MSNBC, AND THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT. HE IS SMART, LIKABLE, AND GOOD AT WHAT HE DOES! (AND BEST OF ALL, HE IS OURS!!!)

IF THE "RIGHT-WINGERS" AT NBC DON'T WANT HIM, HE WILL BE "SCOOPED" UP BY SOMEONE ELSE, BECAUSE HE HAS US, AND HE WILL MAKE MONEY FOR WHOEVER HIRES HIM!

THAT IS VERY, VERY THREATENING TO SOME PEOPLE, AND THAT IS VERY, VERY GOOD!!!

We really need to make sure we watch Countdown nightly to boost his ratings.

And definitely boycott Faux News!. That hits them in the wallet.

Amy Holmes. Among her credentials: policy staffer for Bill Frist, pundit for FOX, groomed by the Richard Mellon Scaife-funded Independent Women's Forum (where Coulter, Ingraham, and the other bimbettes got their media starts), columnist for Scaife's Jewish World Review, and a member of all the other status symbols of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

Man, the RW are such a bunch of vile people - it's amazing they can live with themselves. I guess when you have no ability to sympathize with another human being...

Wonder if they'll use the same technique?

The Right Wing has the lion's share of $$$, therefore, they can DEFINE the truth.

We are so screwed until the slumbering Middle Class Wakes the F**k up!!!

The Republicans pull the strings, therefore, I suggest we hunker down for totalitarian rule (via the Corporate, Warmongering, USA National Media) for the foreseeable future. :(

May God Have Mercy on those of us who stand firm ... continue to dislike Big Brother. :hi:

How influencial is Lloyd Groves, anyway?

liberal for Bush/Rove and the republicans and wanted absolutely no television dissent and MSNBC fired Donahue, days before Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq,

I hope we all support Keith Olbermann and he will fare better, than the bias way MSNBC treated the truthful patriot liberal progressive like Phil Donahue!