Olbermann

[iamnotafraid]

I moved my response to this forum out of respect to the L. Buckingham forum.
I don't want to mix politics with our mutual enjoyment of music.

I do stand by my comments that Keith Olbermann is a very mean spirited man.
I invite anyone who can stomach it to watch him on MSNBC and see if you don't
come away feeling the same. Even if you agree with his Liberal ideas I don't see
how anyone couldn't see the hate.

As far as my MSNBC sinking ship statement, I can make two points there. MSNBC
has consistently been losing the ratings war with FOX News and CNN. I'm not talking
about one particular night, I'm talking month after month. Even Tom Brokaw recently advocated taking the squabbling liberal leaning Chris Matthews and Keith
Olbermann out of the anchor chairs. Brokaw went on to say it was a mistake to think
Olbermann could fill both rolls as an anchorman and analyst.

Now before I get anymore responses about watching FOX News Channel, which I
do (shocked huh?). I agree that it's a Conservative leaning channel, I'm not blind.
I also watch CNN and a little of CBS News. What as a Conservative Christian would
you have me watch? Fox News is the only major news channel that is not liberal.
That's why Fox does so good in the ratings, it's pretty much our only source.

The assumption that I like Bill O'Reilly because I'm conservative is wrong. I agree
with many of the things he says, just like I do with Sean Hannity. But I get so tired
or their pompous attitudes. Sometimes I wonder why any of these talking heads
have guests. All they do is talk over them. They make statements instead of asking
questions (that goes for all the networks).

I don't make many post in this section anymore, because I came to the Ledge to read
news about Lindsey, Stevie and the rest of the "Mac". And to have some fun, which I
have done. Have your views, but lets try to keep out the hate.

[strandinthewind]

^^

That's cool if you do not like him because you think he is hate filled. I do not really see it as that. I think he calls spade a spade. This is different than being a liberal. Sadly, the R party moved the definition of that term into something that means anyone who speaks out against Fox News and the R party. But, to each his own.

As for the anger in general, may people in this country are angry. They have seen W and the R party openly persecute gay people for religious gain. They have seen W and the R party cite God as a reason for invading Iraq, which has bankrupted the country and killed thousands of our soldiers and likely millions of innocent Iraqi's. They have seen W let OBL bomb us on 9/11 and then fail to catch him. They have seen W and the R party openly attack any person who dared to speak out against them - calling them unAmerican, anti-Christian, etc. They have seen W and the R party try by manipulation of the law to make Christianity the official religion of the USA.

So, I think when anger against W and his cronies, like the current incarnation of McCain and certainly Plain, is expressed now, it is warranted.

Put it this way, even Christ, as a human, lost his temper when he saw corruption in His Father's house :shrug:

Finally, don't you realize that Hannity rearely tells the truth. Rather, he just repeats lies over and over again until people begin to believe them. To me, Hannity is the ultimate vacant headed star giving a totally unqualified political opinion. Hannity is atoal cheerleader for the R party. Look at the infomercials he dared to call "interviews" of McCain and Palin. Those were ridiculously one sided propaganda.

Finally, I just do not see any bias in things like CNN Headline news. I cannot say the same for Fox's general news broadcast.

[vermicious knid]

Keith Olbermann is a petulant child. He is absolutely the left's version of blowhards like Sean Hannity. His blind devotion to Barack Obama is just like their unquestioning allegiance to George W. Bush. Earlier this year he was excoriating Bush for pushing for the FISA bill to be passed, saying "You’re a fascist — get them to print you a T-shirt with fascist on it! What else is this but fascism?" But then when Obama comes out in favor of it (he had promised to filibuster it earlier), Olbermann was tripping all over himself to justify it, and praising him for his courage.

[strandinthewind]

KO is far from perfect. And, I do not always agree with him. What I mant was I do not think he is hate filled. When I think of hate filled, I think of someone like Bill O'Reilly just yelling at someone like he did to Barney Frank the other day. A respectable journalist would have et Frank say what he had to say and then call him on it. But, BO knows that bitching out a "liberal" Mass. Rep. who is a queer will win HUGE ratings with his audience. So, BO throws journalistic integrity out of the window. I have not seen Oblermann do that, though he does strongly condemn things like Bill O'Reilly as seen here --

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This hardly is hate filled. It is calling BO on his BS.

Ann Coulter is another one. She uses hate speech to sell her schtick. Here is KO on her assault on 9/11 widows.

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Here he is on Rush L., another hate monger:

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__________________________________________

Note - I get that KO uses strong language, but these people are distoring facts and hurting this nation. I think getting a little hot under the collar is warranted :shrug:

Again, KO is wrong sometimes, but he is not hate filled - at least that's the way I see it.

[SuzeQuze]

KO is far from perfect. And, I do not always agree with him. What I mant was I do not think he is hate filled. When I think of hate filled, I think of someone like Bill O'Reilly just yelling at someone like he did to Barney Frank the other day. A respectable journalist would have et Frank say what he had to say and then call him on it. But, BO knows that bitching out a "liberal" Mass. Rep. who is a queer will win HUGE ratings with his audience. So, BO throws journalistic integrity out of the window. I have not seen Oblermann do that, though he does strongly condemn things like Bill O'Reilly as seen here --

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2KU02lsfH8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2KU02lsfH8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

This hardly is hate filled. It is calling BO on his BS.

Ann Coulter is another one. She uses hate speech to sell her schtick. Here is KO on her assault on 9/11 widows.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GWo5IiyxfuE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GWo5IiyxfuE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Here he is on Rush L., another hate monger:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/53Ef739Vlkg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/53Ef739Vlkg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
__________________________________________

Note - I get that KO uses strong language, but these people are distoring facts and hurting this nation. I think getting a little hot under the collar is warranted :shrug:

Again, KO is wrong sometimes, but he is not hate filled - at least that's the way I see it.


Exactly, they're far worse on the other side. So every time I hear this kind of argument I'm stumped. He may be self-righteous but he's not hateful.

[ajmccarrell]

Exactly, they're far worse on the other side. So every time I hear this kind of argument I'm stumped. He may be self-righteous but he's not hateful.

I can't agree with you. The only political commentator that actually assaulted someone was a liberal: Al Franken. At a rally with other political commentators, I saw him throw a folding chair at Michael Medved. I have seen conservatives use harsh words, but I have never seen one stoop to that level.

If you listened to Rush or O'Reilly regularly, you do not see the same level of anger and rage. They do get angry occasionally, but it isn't the same day-in day-out anger and vitriol that you hear on Air America or see from MSNBC. Bill O'Reilly losing his temper at Frank (who "frankly" deserves to be brought up on formal charges along with Chris Dodd) on one occasion does not compare to night after night of name-calling, hate and racism. Bill O'Reilly actually tries to be neutral and he's a right-leaning moderate. If you actually watch him, you might find him more fair minded. I've actually heard him say he leans Obama. I do agree that Hannity and O'Reilly are blowhards, but that is a long way from being a hate-filled, vitriol spewing, foaming at the mouth lunatic.

[vermicious knid]

Bill O’Reilly Shoves Obama Staffer (http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/05/bill-oreilly-shoves-obama-staffer/)
O’Reilly settles sexual harassment lawsuit (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6357736/)

I don't believe that Al Franken ever threw a chair at Michael Medved. I can't find confirmation of that anywhere. I found some Republican websites that say he threw a chair on the floor - maybe you are concerned about floors being assaulted? And you make it sound like you were there to see it in person, which I don't think is true either.

[estranged4life]

All politics aside, I never like Ober-ego when he was an anchor on ESPN...So I dont watch his current gig on MSNBC

[strandinthewind]

All politics aside, I never like Ober-ego when he was an anchor on ESPN...So I dont watch his current gig on MSNBC

I know -- Also, I cannot stand his hair :nod:

[GoS]

I can't agree with you. The only political commentator that actually assaulted someone was a liberal: Al Franken.

Oh, so are we judging people now based on Al Franken? Besides, I don't think that you can say only.

I do agree that Olberman is not very balanced and he does get angry, but he says some very important things. Besides, everything he says is true.:shrug::laugh:

[David]

I do stand by my comments that Keith Olbermann is a very mean spirited man.
I invite anyone who can stomach it to watch him on MSNBC and see if you don't
come away feeling the same. Even if you agree with his Liberal ideas I don't see
how anyone couldn't see the hate. What bugs me isn't "hatred" per se but personality. I can't stand that personality--that sophomoric snideness which passes for wit or acerbity among not-very-bright high schoolers. Moreover, he obviously believes he's amusing, too (hence his nightly shtick "Worst Person in the World" with stentorian voice), but I can't think of anyone who is actually less funny. (I'd have to sift through my memories of old MTV program hosts like Tom Green, & I don't want to do that.) This all goes double for Rachel What's-Er-Name, his exact gynic double.

Here's what I think happened: Talk radio (across the political spectrum) was popular throughout the '90s, when most cable news channels were feeling their way. To grab market, cable began transforming itself into visual talk radio, adopting its tone, its rhythm, its rhetorical ploys, its incoherencies in logic, its analytic vacuities, its crowd-pleasing jingoism (or anti-jingoism). The whole push to become talk radio on TV was hugely successful, obviously. It paid off in a big way for all these channels. All these annoyances -- Hannity, O'Reilly, Olbermann, Colmes, Maddow, Matthews, etc., PLUS all their daily "guests" (Morris, Coulter, Gingrich, Buchanan, Estrich et al.) -- are talk radio-style yappers on the boob tube. In fact, many of them actually have talk radio jobs, too.

As far as my MSNBC sinking ship statement, I can make two points there. MSNBC has consistently been losing the ratings war with FOX News and CNN. Fox is constantly alerting us to the "fact" that MSNBC is a "sinking ship." It's been years since it started to sink, pal. Must be a damned big ship.

What as a Conservative Christian would you have me watch?That depends on what you want. If you want more sophisticated political commentary or analysis, turn off cable news & read "The Economist."

All they do is talk over them. They make statements instead of asking
questions (that goes for all the networks).It isn't long before one is able to catch on to their game, is it? "Interviews" consist of nothing but logical fallacies & rhetorical gamesmanship ("Isn't Obama's radicalism going to put us all in danger?"), all of it delivered in a mad, noisy rush intended to get rammed in to the slot before commercial break. (It's like trying to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle.) As I say, it's all nothing but talk radio on the tube.

[strandinthewind]

. . . Estrich

I like her personage :o

Fox is constantly alerting us to the "fact" that MSNBC is a "sinking ship." It's been years since it started to sink, pal. Must be a damned big ship.

I agree. Moreover, if Fox has the majority of the market share, as they allege, and Fox is self professed as "fair and balanced" (which to me is poppycock) - then how does that support Fox's statement that the media (presumably the majority) is liberal?

. . . . turn off cable news & read "The Economist."

I love that magazine. I do not always agree with the opinions. However, I find it thought provoking and well written.

It isn't long before one is able to catch on to their game, is it? "Interviews" consist of nothing but logical fallacies & rhetorical gamesmanship ("Isn't Obama's radicalism going to put us all in danger?"), all of it delivered in a mad, noisy rush intended to get rammed in to the slot before commercial break. (It's like trying to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle.) As I say, it's all nothing but talk radio on the tube.

Moreover, McCain and Palin apparently now are only doing "extensive" interviews with Fox News. I guess they are afraid of the other media and/or are playing to their base. Fox is like the "yes person" on an infomercial selling a vacuum cleaner - "Wow look at how that vacuum cleaner works, " "You can't get that anywhere else," "What a great product," "Other products can't compete," etc.

Interestingly, many people on the far left consider CNN, MSNBC, and the like to be rabidly conservative. So figure :cool:

[GoS]

Interestingly, many people on the far left consider CNN, MSNBC, and the like to be rabidly conservative. So figure :cool:

Well, if you're far enough left, even MSNBC is rabidly conservative. I mean really far left. Like extremist.

[KarmaContestant]

I just wanted add that MSNBC is far from sinking.

It's moved from number 21 to numner 10 on the cable television rating list over the past three months. Apparently the liberals love having a network to balance out the BS that FOX continually broadcasts (or the truths they choose to ignore).

Regarding Olberman....

He is not hateful - he is angry - like me and millions of other Americans. Too many of us onthe liberal side of life do not speak up. We get called anti-American and dozens of other hateful slurs by the so-called 'right'...and we just take it.

No more. Keith Olberman speaks for me 100% - and pretty much all of my friends too. No longer will we sit back in silence while the Republican party is hijacked by the religious right. Keith is one of my heroes, and I'm very proud of him for having the balls to stand up and point out what is going on in this nation.

[strandinthewind]

I just wanted add that MSNBC is far from sinking.

It's moved from number 21 to numner 10 on the cable television rating list over the past three months. Apparently the liberals love having a network to balance out the BS that FOX continually broadcasts (or the truths they choose to ignore).

Regarding Olberman....

He is not hateful - he is angry - like me and millions of other Americans. Too many of us onthe liberal side of life do not speak up. We get called anti-American and dozens of other hateful slurs by the so-called 'right'...and we just take it.

No more. Keith Olberman speaks for me 100% - and pretty much all of my friends too. No longer will we sit back in silence while the Republican party is hijacked by the religious right. Keith is one of my heroes, and I'm very proud of him for having the balls to stand up and point out what is going on in this nation.

What I love is that the far right seemingly has lost the ability to scream "YOU ARE ANTI-AMERICAN" at every person who goes against them. Look at Representative Michele Bachmann (R - Minn.) - she said Obama "may have anti- American views'' and urged reporters to investigate whether other Democrats may be "anti-America." This statement has cost her the RNC funding she needs and likely will cost her the elecion. She is a known rabod far right wing religious crazy. Four years ago, she would have been cheered for that statement :shrug:

[KarmaContestant]

What I love is that the far right seemingly has lost the ability to scream "YOU ARE ANTI-AMERICAN" at every person who goes against them. Look at Representative Michele Bachmann (R - Minn.) - she said Obama "may have anti- American views'' and urged reporters to investigate whether other Democrats may be "anti-America." This statement has cost her the RNC funding she needs and likely will cost her the election. She is a known rabid far right wing religious crazy. Four years ago, she would have been cheered for that statement :shrug:

I think you're on to something. Perhaps the REAL Republican Party will be reborn in the near future.

Well, there's Ron Paul. :D

[strandinthewind]

I think you're on to something. Perhaps the REAL Republican Party will be reborn in the near future.

Well, there's Ron Paul. :D

I am unsure that, inter alia, withdrawing from NATO and the UN serves our best interest :laugh:

[GoS]

I am unsure that, inter alia, withdrawing from NATO and the UN serves our best interest :laugh:

Oh, you are one of those people who likes to "work with other countries?" What did they ever do for us?

[strandinthewind]

Oh, you are one of those people who likes to "work with other countries?" What did they ever do for us?

ESPECIALLY THE *%&#*&$%& FRENCH!

After microbiotics, it was all downhill with them, save for the cheese.

[GoS]

I'm gonna bump this thread. I think that he was actually pretty good and fair in the time before the Presidential race, but he got a little more left on the air during the race. I thought that he would get better after it ended, but I think that he is not as balanced as he used to be. Anyone else notice this?

[David]

I'm gonna bump this thread. I think that he was actually pretty good and fair in the time before the Presidential race, but he got a little more left on the air during the race. I thought that he would get better after it ended, but I think that he is not as balanced as he used to be. Anyone else notice this?I am turned off by his delivery & his acerbity, but his protege (Rachel Maddow) is ten times worse. She is like a bratty junior high kid sneering at absolutely everyone & everything (except what SHE considers essential), delivering all her "news" & opinions with a smugness that is so off-putting to me, I find myself nauseated by it. I can't STAND her. She's exactly like one of those insufferable & self-gratifying yuppies I used to work with in the newsroom. A grotesquery.

[LukeA]

I'm pretty much straight down the middle, but often lean left. MSNBC is nauseatingly unwatchable, and is every bit as obnoxious and partisan as Fox News.