Keith Olbermann Apologizes For RNC's Graphic 9/11 Tribute (VIDEO)

A visibly upset Keith Olbermann apologized to viewers Thursday night for the graphic 9/11 tribute played in the lead-up to John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Olbermann said of the video:

"If at this late date, any television network had, of its own accord, shown that much video tape and that much graphic video tape of 9/11...it, we, would be rightly eviscerated at all quarters, perhaps by the Republican Party itself, for exploiting the memories of the dead, and perhaps even for trying to evoke that pain again. If you reacted to that video tape the way I did, I apologize. It is a subject of great pain, for many of us still, and it was probably not appropriate to be shown."

Watch Olbermann's reaction:

The graphic video in question (WARNING: MAY BE DIFFICULT TO WATCH):

Comments

[RedStateVoice]

My apologies...I red the headline and thought Olbermann was apologizing to the public for his response. KUDOS to Olbermann, once again for being the champion of truth. Sorry again.

[RedStateVoice]

Why on earth is Keith apologizing for the TRUTH??? I am an independent voter, and WILL be voting for Barak Obama in the fall, but I am absolutely disgusted at this sort of behavior. Why do democrats and other DC politicians continue to APOLOGIZE for the TRUTH????? Stop it! Grow a spine and start standing up for yourselves. I love Keith Olbermann, as he is one of the VERY FEW reporters who TELLS the TRUTH. Why should he have to apologize??? I am just simply appalled!!!!!!

[BlueBerryPickN]

Keith Olbermann has been 'demoted'...

http://tinyurl.com/5w2v4n

I guess apologizing for the RNC's disgusting '9/11 Fest' was just too much integrity & ethics for NBC to handle.

Spread Love, not fear, hate & corporate dependence...

BlueBerry Pick'n
ThisCanadian.com
" ... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice... " ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
"True Pacifism is not unrealistic submission to an Evil power...it is rather a courageous confrontation with Evil by the Power of Love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflicter of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence & bitterness in the Universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, & thereby bring about a transformation & change of Heart." - MLK

[RichardSau]

The RNC appears to also be on a Jihad ... what peoples are they trying to save ... or attack ...win at all cost .. for what cause?

[Vinca]

I'm sorry that MSNBC dropped Olberman an Chris Mathews, , especially Olberman

[confetti]

Yeah. well, they've gagged him. You can read the smear campaign right here in Huff. Rove et alia owns the media. The media owns the citizenry. And the election. Obama's on the defensive, hangdog and pussyfooting and apologizing all over the front pages. He's not stupid. He's magnificent. He know the game is rigged. They are very good at doing what they do. It's double-bind, triple-bind, check and checkmate. McCain is squeaking into the lead this morning in all of the important polls. I'm old. Been here before. I think it's over, folks.

Rove et alia own the media. the media own the citizenry.

[CaliBoy145]

Again trying to scare the crap out of america to vote republican

[Moloch]

How unfortunate they dropped Olbermann and Matthews on MSNBC for the election. Of course they are biased and unequivocably liberal. Is that a bad thing? Maybe MSNBC should have tried for journalistic integrity. Is it a necessary thing? Is it wrong for MSNBC and Olbermann to try and influence the election? I suppose it's not as long as we agree with them.

[epski]

I think I'm more scared of these Republicans than anything. Truly terrifying the way their minds work.

[sharonh]

KeithO was right on with this one. It was digustingly inappropriate. Add to that the laughter generated by the "community service" work comment, and you have to ask, what is wrong with those people?

[Mariet1026]

This video makes my heartache for the families of all the victims of that horrible day. It makes my blood boil that the republican party would use those horrible memories to get votes. They are ridiculing themselves by using this horrible video to continue to install fear into our hearts. Instead of that horrible 2 minute video they could have donne a video to list some of the "changes" that McCain will do when he's in office since he neglected to meniton any of them during his speech. Thank you Keith Olbermann for always calling people out when they are being ludacris.

[smag]

I guess that Keithie bosses felt his rant was inappropriate and arrogrant like he was speaking for the Network instead of just zombie followers.

[moveleft]

This kind of thing has NO PLACE at a partisan convention unless both the DNC and RNC worked together on a mutually agreed upon tribute that would run at both conventions and at a time in the program NOT preceding the introduction of either nominee. That would show both parties were rising above politics to create a true tribute for ALL Americans. Of course, this is the GOP. They have made an art for out of winning elections by preying on our fears. Are we shocked that they pulled 9/11 out of their bag of dirty tricks? I'm not. If the Democrats ran something like this before Obama's speech, oh the right wing talk radio tongues would have been wagging. Rudy would have his red faced mug all over CNN waving a bony finger of blame and O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone" would be spinning out of control. Of course, a week later, the Republicans would do the exact same thing but find a dozen different ways to excuse their heinous actions. Take your pick from their top three of late: it's "the media" on a witch hunt, it's "sexist" criticism or, the biggie, they can run a 9/11 video for political purposes because John McCain is "a POW."

[SenzuriChampion]

man I love Keith, what a standup guy

[ItHasToGetBetter]

I agree with Keith on this one. There's something unsavory about showing something like this at a political convention. No one doubts Giuliani's heroism during that time as the acting mayor of New York, but just like John McCain's POW record, it's starting to feel like cheap exploitation of tragedy. The worst was the exploitation of 9/11 to get us into the Iraq war, now it's being used to evoke painful emotions to advertise for a political party. The memory of everyone who died is being used to keep us in the war. September 11th should be remembered as a day that represents the best and the worst in people not as a commercial.