Haven’t Seen It Yet, But It Looks Like the Pros At NBC Have Decided To Chide Olbermann And His Ego
Posted by WLS:
Just saw this posted at NRO Mediablog:
Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw, at about 8:10 tonight, just told Keith Olbermann that Troopergate will be, at best, a “speed-bump” and likened it to “the petty Little Rock politics” that never amounted to anything with Bill Clinton.
Sullivan has the text of some of these emails posted on his site, like they were smoking guns the equivalent of the Valachi Papers.
I can imagine the spin Olbermann tried to put on them, and then tossing the question out to pros like Brokaw and Todd — only to find that they are not Rachel Maddow or John Dean. They tossed it right back marked “Return To Sender.”
“But, but, but…. I get big ratings with this stuff. WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH”
It’s funny how by reading what’s posted on this site, I can get a good sense of whatever Andrew Sullivan has been writing about, especially lately. Apparently, Sullivan is the new Glen Gould…
Tom (b5d10a) — 9/3/2008 @ 8:53 pmAndrew who?
Dana (084de8) — 9/3/2008 @ 8:57 pmTom…
Another Drew (85d510) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:00 pmDoes Sully have that much talent to be the new Gould?
Did any one remind Sully that the “trooper” in question is a racist, child-abusing wifebeater?
Is this where Sully is in favor of domestic violence as long as it is directed against the family members of a conservative?
Someone send him this bumper sticker
Darleen (187edc) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:05 pmI accidentially stumbled on Sullivan’s critique of Palin’s speech and it was the most superficial nonsense I’ve ever seen. She scrunches her face? She attacks Obama too much? She looks like Tracy Flick?
Maybe it was a parody.
Eric Lindholm (06e1ab) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:09 pmIf it came from Sullivan, then it is Parody by default…
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:27 pm“But, but, but…. I get big ratings with this stuff. WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH”
— The last I saw, O’Reilly still kicks his ass 2-to-1 in the ratings every night.
Icy Truth (614178) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:28 pm#4 Darleen: Apropos of nothing at all (except bumper stickers), my current favorite from Gerard Vanderleun’s site:
Over
EW1(SG) (353db4) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:30 pmWhat the hell is up with all these idiots saying “she had her speech written for her!” Does the Messiah write all his own stuff? What garbage.
PDizzle (cb6b9b) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:50 pmAnother Olbermann shocker… I just heard KO pass along a bit of praise to Palin for getting through what MSNBC is reporting as a somewhat serious teleprompter glitch during her speech. Hopefully there’ll be more info about the glitch soon…
qdpsteve (dc65ab) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:53 pmGod, if that had happened to Obama, it would have been OVER
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:55 pmAlso WLS and Patterico, apologies for threadjacking but I just wanted to pass along that we can apparently count Roger Ebert’s Sun-Times colleague Richard Roeper as one of the liberal good guys about the garbage Palin’s been subjected to this past week.
qdpsteve (dc65ab) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:58 pmPDizzle
She’s a little shrill woman who couldn’t possibly do any sort of collaboration with a speech writer…ala 99.99% of the rest of the politicians…
I think those idiots are sorely disappointed she didn’t show up in a prairie dress with a missing tooth or two.
Indecent lot.
Darleen (187edc) — 9/3/2008 @ 9:59 pmAfter helping “celebrate” the DNC Convention last week, the MSNBC team of commentators covering the Republican convention reminds me more of a pack of hyenas picking apart the carcass of a zebra. This is not news coverage; this is propaganda in action.
Tonight’s crew of pundits was led by Keith Olbermann in New York, who, as a partisan commentator, needs no introduction. He was joined in St Paul by Chris Matthews (who melts at the sight of Barack Obama), Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post leftie, who is on Olbermann’s show almost every night, Rachel Maddow of Air America, Nora O’Donnell, who has made it crystal clear that she thinks Sarah Palin’s selection was a mistake, David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, and, oh yes, Pat Buchanan, the token conservative (sometimes).
With the exception of Buchanan, the slant on the reporting of this convention is pretty unanimous: The Republicans suck. McCain sucks, and Sarah Palin has a pregnant 17-year-old daughter.
Some analysis!
Tonight, Chuck Todd pointed out that Palin had sold a private jet on E-bay, the implication being that this woman is out of touch with ordinary Americans, who can’t afford a private jet. Just one catch: The jet belonged to the state of Alaska and was sold to cut down on state expenses.
In addition, Olbermann immediately followed up on Mike Huckabee’s speech by jumping on two factual errors Huckabee made dealing with American history. Good job, Keith!
Matthews, for his part, struck out against those critics of the MSM coverage, pointing out that they (the media) were “doing their job” in pointing out the stories about Palin. (“We have a job to do.”) Yes, Chris, it was the media’s job to jump on the Daily Kos rumor about the Governor not being the real mother of the baby born in April. It was the media’s job to make a big deal out of the news that her daughter was going to have a baby out of wedlock.
Then Matthews informed us that Palin’s speech tonight (which supposedly attacks the “boys club” in politics) was being written by some guy he described as a member of the “boys club”. Chris, you are supposed to be an anchor. You could have let Robinson or Maddow mention that.
Robinson, who usually likes to write about racial victim hood issues, pointed out that the Republicans are “playing against the media”. Why shouldn’t they? Media bias is a fact, and it is nowhere better illustrated than at MSNBC.
Most importantly, the reaction to Palin’s speech:
Olbermann immediately commented that it was a great speech, but as to content….then went on to quote some Lincoln-era quote-implication: Her speech was devoid of content. He later went on to bemoan the “condescension” shown to Obama, Biden and the Democrats. This from the lead anchor of the convention coverage.
Matthews, the co-anchor, made a curious reference to Palin being a torpedo aimed at Barack and Michelle Obama on “cultural terms”. Curious indeed, but Matthews has been making curious comments with increasing regularity lately.
Eugene Robinson described it as “two speeches”. He liked the personal part but dismissed the other half as “canned-written by a McCain speechwriter”.
Rachel Maddow described Palin’s speech as “Sarcasm, mockery, insults, nasty sniping, and belittling” (toward Barack Obama). She should know.
White House press gadfly David Gregory described it a strong presentation that was well received (faint praise).
Buchanan: “Sensational”. That was about the only word he got out before they cut away to someone else, and Pat disappeared.
Then NBC News Anchor, Brian Williams came on and read a blog entry from “anonymous” author, Joe Klein, who blistered Palin for her policies in Alaska. (Klein is the stand-up guy who wrote the book, Primary Colors, by “anonymous”, denied being the author then admitted it. So much for his credibility.)
So MSNBC has a two-fold mission, as they see it: First, to defend themselves against criticism being directed toward the media for being biased and trying to tear down Sarah Palin; second, to tear down Sarah Palin.
None of the above is to deny news commentators the right to offer criticism of the convention, the Republicans, McCain or Palin. However, it would be nice to see some measure of balance among the commentators. In addition, how can MSNBC justify having two blatant partisans (Olbermann and Matthews) acting as anchors? Olbermann, for his part, detests Republicans, yet, here he is leading the coverage of the RNC Convention.
In my own view, Palin gave a fine speech. She has poise and charisma, and the convention has received her enthusiastically-contrary to what the press would have us believe. She has a tough road ahead, and, unfortunately, the attacks on her are just starting. Just wait till Keith and his pack of hyenas get back to “Countdown.”
gary fouse
fouse, gary c (42fe2b) — 9/3/2008 @ 10:25 pmfousesquawk
Good info, gary c fouse, and thanks to you I can skip watching my TiVo of tonight’s MSNBC.
DRJ (7568a2) — 9/3/2008 @ 10:39 pmgah… you TiVo’d that???
I suggest burning that thing now…
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 9/3/2008 @ 10:42 pmI watch a lot more TV than I used to to help me blog. When I’m not blogging, I typically read more books. I feel more current and topical when I blog but, in some ways, I think it’s made me dumber.
DRJ (7568a2) — 9/3/2008 @ 10:48 pmJust call us Dumb and Dumber — I’m the latter.
wls (969303) — 9/3/2008 @ 10:55 pmYeah… But it’s MSNBC….
You have OLBERMANN commited to digital memory!
*shudders*
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 9/3/2008 @ 10:57 pmYou should at least watch the moment after the speech, when Andrea Mitchell finishes interviewing Rudy and throws it back to Olbermann. The look on her face… You could see the dreams dying behind her eyes.
Jim Treacher (592cb4) — 9/3/2008 @ 11:15 pmTivoing MSNBC is like saving the dog crap you pick up off your lawn.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/4/2008 @ 6:49 amOnly it has fewer uses…
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 9/4/2008 @ 6:56 amWhat digital records, digital erases.
Can’t wait to get the DVR that has an auto-erase feature that would take the MSNBC signal out of the air and make it (MSNBC) disappear.
Need one of those old Soviet jamming installations.
Another Drew (22a60f) — 9/4/2008 @ 7:16 amIs it not the least bit odd that Keith Olbermann is NOT in St. Paul to cover the RNC for MSNBC?
Recall he was in Denver for the entire DNC.
Speculative generic excuses
1) He was denied press credentials
2) Personal matters he must attend to in NYC
3) He didn’t want to be there
4) NBC chose to keep him away from St. Paul
Honestly, why is he not in St. Paul?
Gabriel Sutherland (e4fb7b) — 9/4/2008 @ 11:12 am