Did Olbermann cross the line?
Posted by BrianTonight when Keith Olbermann was leading into his discussion of the GOP presidential debate last night he called the candidates ”10 of the whitest men” you’ll ever see. If there had been ten black men on stage and he said, “there are 10 of the blackest men you’ll ever see,” he would be cleaning out his desk before he took another breath, well he is a darling of the left, so he’d probably get a pass.
I’ve always liked Olbermann from way back in his Sports Center days and I initially found his nightly “news” cast to be both irreverent and brash. He was willing to say things that others might have thought, but were afraid to say and I appreciate that even if I don’t agree with the specific content. Over the last year or so, though, his show has become so blatantly partisan that it is becoming hard to watch. I admired how he could use his wit to skewer politicians who need to be taken down a peg, but his application of that has become laughably lopsided. He has become little more than the Rush Limbaugh of the left, a caricature I’m not sure he would embrace.
On some level I’m actually entertained by him much like I am by Limbaugh. There is just something amusing about people who will virtually never admit someone of a political party did something wrong (unless they worked with someone from the other party, which is heresy). If George Bush punched a baby in the face Limbaugh would say the baby deserved it. If H-Rod punched a baby in the face Olbermann would say that it was George Bush’s fault for not protecting the baby. On a related note, I strongly encourage you to visit SackSessions.com regularly. It’s my guilty pleasure. If Jeff Sessions saved a family from a burning building they would write a post lambasting him for not putting out the fire as well. If Ron Sparks pissed in your gas tank (he is the gas man after all) they would tell us that Sparks is helping the country by promoting alternative energy.
As usual, I’m starting to drift… Back to Olbermann.
I don’t have a problem with him being sharply partisan, but I do have a problem with him maintaining the facade of being a news man rather than a run of the mill partisan hack like a Sean Hannity. I think it’s important to listen to views from all sides - I just think you should be honest about whose side you’re on. One thing is for sure, if you get your news from both sides of the political spectrum one thing becomes clear really quickly: neither party has a monopoly on corruption and buffoonery.
BTW, (and I promise I thought about this post before I read saw this article) I found this little column linked on Drudge’s site.
Related content:
May 5th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
If George W. Bush walked on water, the headline would be: “Bush can’t swim!”