Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Keith Olbermann and Cold-Blooded Killers

Keith Olbermann is a disgrace.

Last Wednesday, on Olbermann's low-rated MSNBC show Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the former sportscaster masquerading as a fringe Leftist for ratings purposes, delivered a "Special Comment" that stood out as disgraceful even among the many disgraces of the disgraceful Olbermann.

The rant was despicable.

NewsBusters has the full transcript.

Some highlights:

"Mr. Bush, at long last, has it not dawned on you that the America you have now created, includes 'cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives?' They are those in, or formerly in, your employ, who may yet be charged some day with war crimes.

"Through your haze of self-congratulation and self-pity, do you still have no earthly clue that this nation has laid waste to Iraq to achieve your political objectives? 'This ideological struggle' you speak of, Mr. Bush, is taking place within this country. It is a struggle between Americans who cherish freedom, ours and everybody else's, and Americans like you, sir, to whom freedom is just a brand name, just like 'Patriot Act' is a brand name or 'Protect America' is a brand name.

"...[T]he inspiration for another generation of terrorists in another country was provided by your government's farcical post-invasion strategy of letting the societal infrastructure of Iraq dissolve, to be replaced by an American viceroyalty, enforced by merciless mercenaries who shoot unarmed Iraqis and then evade prosecution in any country by hiding behind your skirts, sir. Terrorism inside Iraq is your creation, Mr. Bush!

"...The war in Iraq, your war, Mr. Bush, is about how you accomplished the derangement of two nations, and how you helped funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to lascivious and perennially thirsty corporations like Halliburton and Blackwater, and how you sent 4,000 Americans to their deaths for nothing!

"...When somebody asks you, sir, about Democrats who must now pull this country back from the abyss you have placed us at; when somebody asks you, sir, about the cooked books and faked threats you foisted on a sincere and frightened nation; when somebody asks you, sir, about your gallant, noble, self-abdicating sacrifice of your golf game so as to soothe the families of the war dead; this advice, Mr. Bush: Shut the hell up!"

Naturally, good people were troubled by Olbermann's foaming at the mouth diatribe.

Radio talkers and bloggers noted Olbermann's despicable comments-- blaming President Bush for creating cold-blooded killers, putting Americans on the same moral plane as terrorists, and belittling the service of members of the military.

On Monday, Olbermann responded to those pointing out his shameful remarks.

Olbermann was angry, spitting out his words.

Again, NewsBusters has the full transcript:

Finally, as promised, a post-script tonight regarding last week`s Special Comment. You may remember Mr. Bush had used a cumbersome phrase to describe insurgents in Iraq, "cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives." Last Wednesday, I quoted that phrase from the Politico.com interview to say that Mr. Bush had now also given America cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives. I identified them as Mr. Bush`s personnel, quote, those in or formally in your employ, who may yet be charged someday with war crimes.

I also described the chaos of post invasion Iraq with an "American viceroy, enforced by mercellous mercenaries who shoot unarmed Iraqis and then evade prosecution in any country by hiding behind Mr. Bush`s skirts." No writer or broadcaster is ever as precise and clear as he thinks he is. Television goes by quickly and the viewers are not provided a copy of the script. So it is possible that reasonable viewers might have been confused by exactly to whom I referred, especially considering that I edited the original line, which was: "Mr. Bush, at long last, has it not dawned on you that the America you have now created includes cold-blooded killers who will kill people to achieve their political objectives? They are called your cabinet and your Pentagon."

During the editing process, it seemed that was a little broad, that there appear to be men in both of those places, General Ricardo Sanchez, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, perhaps even the new Secretary of Defense Mr. Gates, who did not merit inclusion in that list. Obviously, my use of Mr. Bush`s phrase, cold-blooded killers, did not refer to U.S. troops. I have never had anything but the highest respect for them and their sacrifice. This newscast constantly advocates their causes, their needs, our collective debt to them. And we constantly call out the administration on its failures to honor them, to protect them, to stop the Pentagon from sticking a band-aid on those whose hearts and minds are broken, and send them back for another tour.

The U.S. troops in Iraq, even those few who have done bad things there, are still victims in this equation, and most are the proverbial innocent bystanders. My use of Mr. Bush`s phrase, cold-blooded killers, referred not to the them, but rather to those former and current members of Mr. Bush`s administration and Pentagon who so irresponsibly unleashed the hounds of war and may indeed someday face war crimes trials.

And that phrase merciless mercenaries seemed to be self-explanatory. Neither are these U.S. troops, not when there are literally mercenaries in Mr. Bush`s employ, principally from Blackwater USA, who literally shot unarmed Iraqis, most infamously in a massacre in Baghdad last September.

Olbermann claims that he didn't mean to say the troops are cold-blooded killers.

Noooo. He loves the troops. That's why he sees them as victims and innocent bystanders, not heroes or liberators or guardians of freedom. According to Olbermann, they haven't accomplished anything worthy. He insists that Bush "sent 4,000 Americans to their deaths for nothing!"

Strangely, when the terms cold-blood killers and mercenaries were used in a public forum, my critics in the lunatic fringe, rather than even considering that the criticism even might be directed at the Pentagon or the administration or Blackwater USA, immediately decided that these were descriptions of our American heroes fighting in Iraq.

It is perhaps instructive, I think, that to the right wing commentators and right wing blogs those terms should first invoke not the war-mongers of the Pentagon, nor the gunmen from Blackwater, but U.S. troops.

I can not imagine that kind of evil knee-jerk reflex. I feel very sorry for those who have shown it. It seems to me that these right wingers have inadvertently shown then their true colors, their instinctive hatred for and contempt for those self-sacrificing Americans who have been needlessly placed in harm`s way by these very commentators and the politicians they support. They hear criticism of our nation`s collective conduct in Iraq and they immediately assume it`s the fault of the soldiers.

In the wake of an insult that exists only in their minds and never in my words nor in my heart, there remains, I think, only one question to ask: Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin, why do you hate our troops?

Olbermann has the audacity to try and twist his own ugliness and his shame to be a reflection of what he identifies as the hate for our troops harbored by patriots like Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin.

Very clearly, he attributes their response to his Wednesday, May 14 "Special Comment" as an indication of their own "instinctive hatred for and contempt for those self-sacrificing Americans," our troops.

How disgusting!

Olbermann is an unscrupulous opportunist. He has no conscience. Recently, he has made a career out of being a mouthpiece for the lunatic Left fringe. MSNBC is complicit in Olbermann's ugliness. It provides a forum for him to spew his anti-Americanism. It encourages him to push the limits of decency.

To get ratings, Olbermann doesn't hesitate to blather on about Bush and war crimes, exploiting the deaths of 4000 Americans. In his horrible, hate-filled rant last Wednesday, he said that they died in vain, their sacrifice worthless.

It's true that Barack Obama and other appeasers don't seem to care about the sacrifice of those Americans. They prefer to retreat and talk defeat. They are willing to declare their deaths to be in vain rather than acknowledge, or at least consider, the rightness of ridding Iraq of Saddam Hussein.

Our troops aren't heroes according to Olbermann. They're victims. They're to be pitied.

Olbermann is the lowest of the low.

He doesn't respect the troops or the U.S. government. The government is evil. People working to keep us safe in the post-9/11 world are nothing but scheming warmongers, caring only about how they can personally profit by putting brave Americans in harm's way.


The lunatic Left fringe loves Olbermann's vitriol. The Leftists eat it up, and MSNBC is eager to keep them fed.

No comments: