Keith Olbermann Is Mad As Hell And He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore

We noted yesterday that Keith Olbermann had delivered his "angriest, most blistering Special Comment yet," and it seems that the commenters on HuffPo and DailyKos agree (and presumably the viewers not only last night on MSNBC but today online, which have since made Olbermann's special comment the top video on MSNBC.com). As one Kos kommenter said, "If you need to reach him today he'll be at the clinic while doctors re-attach the vein to his temple."

Olbermann's strident message last night clearly resounded with many of these commenters, who echoed his outrage with their own in the comments sections — reminding me of that seminal scene from Network where Howard Beale melts down on camera, whipping up viewers to join him in yelling, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" Olbermann spoofed that moment himself on his show, but last night it seemed pretty damn genuine. Don't worry, though, we're sure he'll be all calmed down by next Tuesday to impartially anchor the Kentucky primary.

Related:
Olbermann To Bush: "This War Is Not About You...Shut The Hell Up!" [ETP]

Related in Video:

Nework - Howard Beale is Mad as Hell:

Olbermann as Howard Beale:

Comments

[comatoast]

So Olbermann likes the sound of his own voice a little too much- at least he offers unvarnished criticism of what I believe is the worst administration (and I remember Nixon's) in our country's history.
And yes, his election night anchoring is somewhat less than impartial. My conjecture is that our dear Ms. Sklar wouldn't object if his bias favored Hillary. The great thing about election night coverage (any network's) is that numbers are just numbers and are subject to each individual's interpretation- regardless of the commentator's spin.

[rbdc]

I think you've got to stand on principle, and in this case (election night coverage), the principle is one of even-handed, impartial reporting.

I'm going to digress just a bit here to make my point. In today's NYT, there's an article about Nadine Strossen, the ACLU's outgoing president. The daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she absolutely believes in the principle of free speech to the extent of having no qualms about defending the free speech of Nazis. Now that's impressive adherence to principle! In a somewhat similar vein, although I fully agree that the current administration has been nothing less than disastrous, that fact does not in any way relieve the networks of their responsibilty to report election evening coverage fairly and with unbiased anchors (I'm not talking about the ancillary commentators -- the Buchanans, Maddows, etc.) MSNBC has a whole host of daytime anchors who report the news professionally and even-handedly -- why not use one or two of them?

I have no problem with the concept of the Countdown show (although I've soured on its style); it's obviously a commentary program, not a primary source for news; on the other hand, election night coverage ostensibly should be an exercise in fair, impartial journalism.

[rbdc]

Rachel, do I detect a touch of sarcasm in your last sentence? Well, if you won't out and out say it, I will. Why does MSNBC have the extremely biased Olbermann and Matthews host the primary night coverages? Doesn't impartiality in news reporting mean anything anymore? MSNBC may well now be as "fair and balanced" as Fox is.

I know I'm courting trouble by criticizing Olbermann on HuffPo (I read many of the comments to last night's post, and it seems he's become something of a Barack star). I also support Obama, but one of the the things I do so much like about him is his even-tempered, Presidential demeanor -- his un-Olbermannesque deportment. Although, in a very general way, I agree with his perspective, Olbermann lately seems a pompous blowhard at risk of becoming a lefty Hannity. And why does he save his harshest ranting about GWB for the golf thing when there's so much actual Bush policy to get apoplectic about? In fairness to GWB, I too would think it disrepectful to the troops for him to be playing golf while leading a war just as I did think it disrespectful of his dad to be horsing around on a cigarette boat at about the time of the first Gulf war, unbecoming of the Commander-in-Chief to be burning oodles of petroleum product at play off the coast of Maine while our soldiers fought a war for oil.

[Grulg]

Uhmmmmmmmmmmmm okay, the War's bad, and we KNOW W sucks. And-?