Last modified on August 8, 2007, at 19:27

Keith Olbermann

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jallen (Talk | contribs) at 19:27, August 8, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.

File:Keith-ratingslie.jpg
Keith Olbermann, liberal commentator

Keith Olbermann is a liberal Democrat political commentator and activist, [1] formerly a sportscaster on ESPN. He currently hosts Countdown, a nightly news and commentary program on MSNBC.

In July of 2006, the Anti-Defamation League filed a complaint to MSNBC because of Olbermann's repeated use of the Nazi salute while attacking popular commentator Bill O'Reilly on his television show and in public.[2]

Keith Olbermann 24 controversy

The Keith Olbermann 24 controversy concerns a January 2007 incident in which liberal Democrat political commentator Keith Olbermann attacked the popular FOX television series 24'."

On the January 16, 2007 edition of Olbermann's show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, he accused the widely acclaimed 24 of "fearmongering" and being "propaganda designed to keep people thinking about domestic terrorism to keep us scared" asking, "is it a program-length commercial for one political party?" Olbermann asked the rhetorical question, "if the irrational right can claim that the news is fixed to try to alter people's minds or that networks should be boycotted for nudity or for immorality, shouldn't those same groups be saying 24 should be taken off of TV because it's naked brainwashing?"

This was in response to the January 15 broadcast of 24 in which a low-grade nuclear weapon is detonated in the Valencia community of Los Angeles by a terrorist group. Fox Commentator Cal Thomas had written an editorial in which he advised, "Watch the TV drama 24 for what could be our prophetic and imminent future, with a nuclear device exploding in major cities."


On the February 2, 2007 edition of Countdown, Olbermann gave the show the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment.

Olbermann sees conspiracies

In a rambling broadcast after the FBI made an arrest of four terror suspects for plot to attack JFK International Airport and plant explosives to blow up major jet-fuel supply tanks and pipelines,[3] Olbermanmn charged the Bush adminstration with conspiracy. JFK handles on average over 1,000 flights daily. The plotters were assisted by an international network of Muslim extremists from the United States, Guyana, and Caribbean, including senior leadership of Jamaat Al Muslimeen (“JAM”), which was responsible for a deadly coup attempt in Trinidad in 1990. In Olbermann 's mind


“ the so-called plot happens to be revealed the day before the second Democratic presidential debate and, as the scandal continues to unfold over the firings of U.S. attorneys and their replacements by political hacks. The so-called plot is announced by the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney for Brooklyn, New York, and by the police chief of New York City, the father of a correspondent for Fox News Channel." Olbermann further theorized that President Bush was "fomenting yet another war...a new Cold War with Russia, possibly to obscure the unending nightmare in Iraq. [4] ”

Matthew Felling of CBS News noted, "Hammering away at things that aren’t there – or barely there – is a surefire way to dilute your message."

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Keith Olbermann ... is notorious for anti-Bush, anti-conservative rants. [1]
  2. ↑ Anti-Defamation League Letter to MSNBC, July 28, 2006.
  3. ↑ Four Individuals Charged in Plot to Bomb John F. Kennedy International Airport, FBI Press Release New York Field Office, June 2 2007.
  4. ↑ Olbermann Overstates?, Matthew Felling, CBS News, June 5, 2007.

See Also

Olbermann Watch